Botulinum toxin for the management of bruxism: an overview of reviews protocol

Bruxism is characterised by a repetitive activity in the masticatory muscles that involves teeth clenching or grinding and/or forceful mandibular movements. Its management is typically initiated when individuals start experiencing the adverse effects of the condition. One of the available intervention forms is the administration of botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A). Numerous systematic reviews have addressed the use of BoNT-A to manage bruxism; however, the results are controversial. The current overview aims to determine BoNT-A's effectiveness for managing bruxism in relation to placebo, the absence of treatment or alternative interventions in the adult population.

This study will include systematic reviews (SRs), with or without meta-analysis, aiming to evaluate the efficacy of BoNT-A for bruxism in adults. A broad literature search will be carried out on Cochrane Library, EMBASE, LILACS, Livivo, PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science and the grey literature. Experts in the topic and reference lists of included SRs will also be consulted. The study selection will be conducted in two phases by two independent reviewers. Data collection will be performed by one author and cross-checked by another. The methodological quality of included SRs will be evaluated using AMSTAR-II. A narrative synthesis will be employed as the formal method to combine individual study data. The overlap across studies will be quantified by the corrected covered area and illustrated by the Graphical Representation of Overlap for Overviews.

This overview does not require ethics approval, as it uses secondary data from previously published studies. The results will be disseminated through the publication in a high-impact journal.

DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/RB45T.