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Association among headache, temporomandibular disorder, and awake bruxism: A cross-sectional study
Tatiana B Silva1, Fernanda R Ortiz2, Lucas M Maracci3
1Department of Restorative Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil.
Objective:
To evaluate the association between headache, myofascial temporomandibular disorder (TMD), and awake bruxism (AB).
Background:
Bruxism seems to act as a risk factor for TMD and its associated comorbidities, such as headaches.
Methods:
In total, 406 medical records of individuals who sought care at a university dental clinic were screened. The Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders was used to assess and diagnose TMD, as well as to obtain self-reports of AB and headache.
Results:
The sample consisted of 307 medical records. About 72.5% (221/305) of the sample reported having headaches, and 67.4% (180/267) and 68.4% (210/307) were diagnosed with AB and TMD, respectively. Individuals who reported having AB (odds ratio [OR], 2.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-4.7) and who were diagnosed with myofascial TMD (OR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.15-5.5) were more likely to have had headaches in the past 6 months when compared with patients without myofascial TMD and bruxism. Also, individuals who self-reported headache were 2.27 times (95% CI, 1.09-4.7) more likely to have AB and 2.45 times (95% CI, 1.13-5.34) more likely to have myofascial pain than individuals without headaches.
Conclusions:
Individuals with myofascial TMD, headaches, or AB were more likely to have at least one of the other conditions.
