¿Es el bruxismo de vigilia un marcador de vulnerabilidad en la infancia?

To investigate the prevalence of probable awake bruxism in children and its association with emotional, behavioral, and contextual factors related to anxiety, emotional well-being, bullying, parental sense of coherence, and risk of sleep-disordered breathing.

This cross-sectional study included 642 children aged 6 to 10 years enrolled in public schools in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. Data collection comprised three stages: (i) a questionnaire for parents/caregivers addressing children's daytime and nighttime behaviors, family income, and parental education; (ii) a child questionnaire assessing emotional well-being and bullying; and (iii) an intraoral examination to identify clinical signs suggestive of bruxism. Validated instruments were used: the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAI-C) for anxiety, the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ8-10) for emotional well-being, the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ) for bullying, the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-13) for parental sense of coherence, and the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) for risk of sleep-disordered breathing. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression, with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) reported.

The prevalence of probable awake bruxism was 29.6%. Most children did not report significant emotional well-being impairment, increased risk of sleep-disordered breathing, or clinically significant anxiety. However, three-quarters of parentes/caregivers presented low sense of coherence, reflecting reduced perceived ability to cope with stress and daily challenges. Bullying experience was highly prevalent, reported by 84.4% participants.

Probable awake bruxism showed high prevalence among children, reinforcing its clinical and epidemiological relevance Findings emphasize the importance of addressing bruxism from a multifactorial perspective integrating.