Awake Bruxism-Single-Point Self-Report versus Ecological Momentary Assessment

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Behavioral Science
• Digital Health

Background:

• Assessing awake bruxism (AB) during daytime activities is difficult due to limitations of continuous monitoring.
• Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) using smartphone applications offers a novel, semi-instrumental approach for real-time data collection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the association between single-point self-report measures and EMA for assessing awake bruxism.
• To determine the reliability and validity of EMA in capturing different masticatory muscle activity states.

Main Methods:

• Participants used a smartphone application to report masticatory muscle activity status at least 12 times daily over a week.
• Reported states included: relaxed muscles, muscle bracing without tooth contact, teeth contact, teeth clenching, and teeth grinding.
• Comparison was made between EMA data and single-point self-report questions defining AB-positive and AB-negative subjects.

Main Results:

• The most frequently reported state via EMA was relaxed muscles (approx. 60%), while teeth grinding was least frequent (<1%).
• Relaxed muscles exhibited the lowest variance over the seven-day reporting period.
• Only relaxed muscles and muscle bracing conditions demonstrated acceptable ability to differentiate between AB-positive and AB-negative subjects based on single-point self-reports.

Conclusions:

• Combining self-report with EMA may enhance awake bruxism assessment capabilities.
• Revisiting the reporting conditions for teeth contact and teeth grinding within EMA protocols is recommended for improved awake bruxism evaluation.