Bruxism Frequency and Low-Intensity Occlusal Tactile Detection in Healthy Adults

Objective: This cross-sectional study investigated whether the frequency of waking-state and sleep-related bruxism is associated with sensitivity to occlusal tactile stimuli (i.e., occlusal tactile acuity) in healthy individuals. Methods: Forty healthy participants (20 females and 20 males) completed the Oral Behavioural Checklist to assess the frequency of waking-state and sleep-related bruxism. Participants were stratified into groups representing low, medium, and high bruxism frequency. Occlusal tactile acuity was evaluated using articulating foils of different thicknesses (8-56 μm) and sham trials presented in random order. Each stimulus was tested six times. Participants indicated whether they perceived a foil between their teeth. Signal detection theory was applied to distinguish perceptual sensitivity from response strategy. Results: Detection accuracy increased with foil thickness. Individuals with a high frequency of sleep-related bruxism exhibited reduced detection of thinner foils (8-24 μm) compared with those with low frequency of sleep-related bruxism (p = 0.029). Additionally, participants with high-frequency waking-state or sleep-related bruxism were more reluctant to report occlusal contact, indicating a more conservative reporting strategy (p = 0.045 and p = 0.002, respectively). Conclusions: Higher frequency of sleep-related bruxism was associated with reduced detection of low-intensity occlusal stimuli and a more conservative reporting strategy. These findings indicate an association between sleep-related bruxism frequency and differences in occlusal tactile detection. However, as the bruxism assessment was based on self-reports, these findings should be interpreted with caution.