Family history of bruxism: a case-control study based on the ecological momentary assessment of awake bruxism

In everyday clinical practice, the screening of specific genes for awake bruxism (AB) is not a sustainable and feasible practice; most of the time, the only information that clinicians can rely on is investigating the family history of bruxism. Nevertheless, little is known about the relationship between the reported history and AB frequency. The aim of the present paper is to assess the existence of any differences in the frequency of self-reported AB behaviors between healthy young individuals with and without a positive report of family history of bruxism.

Participants were recruited within the community of the University of Siena by advertising the possibility of taking part in the investigation through the academic website and mail. All the participants performed a seven-day monitoring of the frequency of self-reported AB via the ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Moreover, for the assessment of bruxism family history, participants were asked to fill out a short questionnaire taken from the Standardized Tool for the Assessment of Bruxism (STAB).

The final sample was composed of 117 individuals (32 males and 85 females, mean age 22.3 ± 2.3). Of the total amount of participants, 48.7% reported a positive family history of bruxism. The Mann-Whitney U test showed a statistically significant difference in the reported frequency of all AB behaviors (i.e., teeth contact, mandible bracing, teeth clenching, teeth grinding) between the two groups (p < 0.05). Conversely, no significant difference in the frequency of AB behaviors was present between individuals with a positive report of family history in first-degree relatives compared to second-degree relatives (p > 0.05).

Based on these findings, clinicians are recommended to not underestimate a positive family history of bruxism, as it can be an indicator of an ongoing AB.