The relationship between bruxism, sleep quality, and headaches in schoolchildren.
Carolina Carvalho Bortoletto, Mônica da Consolação Canuto Salgueiro, Renata Valio and 8 others
PMID 29200617WHAT IT FOUND
Children aged 3 to 6 who ground their teeth during sleep had headaches more often than children who did not (59.2% versus 31.4%).
This link does not prove grinding causes headaches.
Key findings
01Children with sleep bruxism had headaches more often than children without it: 59.2% versus 31.4%.
02Sleep noises were much more common in children with sleep bruxism: 64.5% versus 0.6%.
03Daytime teeth clenching was more common in children with sleep bruxism (40.8% versus 11.1%), but daytime clenching was not associated with headache.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The children came from a preschool in Brazil and were a convenience sample, so they may not represent other settings or groups. The study measured children once and compared groups with and without sleep bruxism. It cannot show that sleep bruxism caused headaches or that treating bruxism would reduce headaches. Sleep bruxism was diagnosed using parent report and tooth wear, not the overnight sleep test the authors say is the standard reference. The paper gave two slightly different odds estimates for headache with sleep bruxism (OR=3.07 and OR=3.15), so the exact size of the association is uncertain. Headache was recorded as present or absent, and the paper did not report clear headache type or severity. Many sleep habits were reported by parents, and most children were reported to sleep well, so poor sleep quality was not strongly demonstrated.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was supported by a university postgraduate program in Brazil.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that treating teeth grinding during sleep will prevent headaches. The study only compared children with and without sleep bruxism at one time; it did not test any treatment or show cause.