Pain perception and functional/occlusal parameters in sleep bruxism subjects following a therapeutic intervention

This study was conducted to assess the individual pain perception in sleep bruxism (SB) subjects. Moreover, the effects of a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) compared to an occlusal appliance (OA) on pain perception and a possible continuative impact on several functional parameters were investigated.

A total of 57 SB subjects participated in this investigation. The diagnosis of SB was based on the clinical criteria of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). Twenty-eight SB subjects were randomly allocated to the CBT group and 29 to the OA group. The therapeutic intervention took place over a period of 12 weeks, whereby both groups were examined at baseline, immediately after termination of the intervention, and at a 6-month follow-up for pain perception and functional parameters. At each of the three measurement periods, participants completed the pain perception scale and ten functional/occlusal parameters were recorded.

Of the 12 parameters recorded, statistically significant main effects were found for the affective pain perception (p < 0.05) and for the three functional variables. Interestingly, the values obtained for the affective pain perception were considerably below that of a reference group. Apart from the determined statistically significant results, the values recorded for all functional/occlusal variables as well as those obtained for the sensory pain perception were clearly located within normative ranges.

Within the limitations of this study, it might be concluded that the significantly reduced affective pain perception in SB subjects is the expression of an adaptation mechanism.