Bidirectional Relationship Between Dental Diseases and Sleep Disturbances in Pediatric Patients

Certain dental diseases in pediatric patients may disturb their sleep, affect their oral health-related quality of life, and result in a negative influence on cognition and behavior. On the other hand, sleep disturbances may also increase the risk or participate in development and progression of dental diseases.

This narrative review aimed to overview of the bidirectional relationship between common dental diseases and sleep disturbances, as well as the potential mechanisms behind.

PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched using the keywords "dental disease," "sleep disturbances," and "children," and only articles published in English were included.

Evidence provided by previous studies has indicated that common dental diseases, including dental caries, temporomandibular disorders, and dentofacial deformities, induced sleep disturbances in children and adolescents. On the other hand, common sleep disturbances such as sleep disordered breathing, obstructive sleep apnea, as well as other sleep problems, including sleep bruxism and sleep profile impairments, have a strong link to oral health conditions in pediatric patients. Alteration of oral microorganism colonization, impairment in the immune system, persistent inflammation, and chronic pain have contributed to sleep disorders triggered by these dental diseases.

Upon identification of dental caries, gingivitis, periodontitis, as well as other dental problems, a checkup on a child's sleep is important, as this may subsequently affect his/her initiation, maintenance, duration, and quality of sleep. Dentists and orthodontists could play a critical role in early detection, prevention, and intervention of the dental health-related sleep disturbances.