A more efficient biofeedback procedure for the treatment of nocturnal bruxism

The study describes a noval approach in the use of a conditioning procedure for the treatment of nocturnal bruxism. The effectiveness of the procedure is demonstrated through its application with two nocturnal bruxists in controlled study designs. Subject 1 received several variations of this procedure and the result indicated that using a loud tone which she manually reset after awakening was the most effective approach to this treatment. The second study was designed to compare the effectiveness of relaxation training to the conditioning technique. Subject 2 failed to show any decrease in her bruxing behavior when taught relaxation. However, she showed immediate decreases in both frequency and duration of bruxing responses when treated with the biofeedback procedure. The need for future research in this area is discussed with emphasis on the development of low cost, home treatment units.