Sleep Bruxism and Anxiety Impacts in Quality of Life Related to Oral Health of Brazilian Children and their Families

Objective: This study aimed to assess the impact of parent reported sleep bruxism, trait anxiety and sociodemographic/socioeconomic features on quality of life related to oral health (OHRQoL) of children and their families. Study Design: Healthy children aged 3-7 years, with (n=34) and without (n=32) bruxism were select for this study. Data was collected by applying the following instruments: The Early Childhood Oral Health Scale (B-ECOHIS) and Trait-anxiety Scale (TAS). The sociodemographic/socioeconomic characteristics were obtained by interviews with parents. Multiple logistic regression tests were performed to observe the influence of sociodemographic/socioeconomic characteristics, bruxism and trait-anxiety on the children's OHRQoL. Results: No association between sleep bruxism and all evaluated sociodemographic/socioeconomic conditions, with exception of being the only child (p=0.029), were observed. Mean B-ECOHIS and TAS scores were different (p<0.05) between children with (3.41 +/- 4.87; 45.09 +/- 15.46, respectively) and without (0.63 +/- 1.28; 29.53 +/- 11.82, respectively) bruxism. Although an association between bruxism and OHRQoL (p=0.015) was observed, it was dropped (p=0.336; OR=1.77) in the logistic regression model. Trait anxiety was the variable responsible for the impact on the OHRQoL of children (p=0.012; OR=1.05). Conclusion: Our results indicated anxiety as the main factor that interfered in the OHRQoL of children with sleep bruxism.