Abstract
Purpose: Purpose: To compare and investigate whether habitual snoring and/or bruxism during sleep manifest themselves in the morphological characteristics of the face.
Methods: The presence of snoring was determined and classified using questionnaire results and data recordings of respiratory sounds which were recorded and heard during sleep at night, and the presence of bruxism was determined and classified using observations of punched holes and grinding traces on a splint worn during sleep at night along with reference to oral findings (presence of tooth attrition, bone tubers, and wedge-shaped defects in the cervical area). In addition, for the filming and recording of faces, a non-contact three-dimensional measuring device was used to compile three-dimensional facial images, which were analyzed later.
Results: 1. Among the 36 subjects, 5 showed both snoring and bruxism, 8 showed only snoring, and 6 showed only bruxism. 2. The morphological facial differences according to the presence or absence of snoring showed characteristic morphologies near the outline at the lower extent of the faces. 3. The morphological facial differences according to the presence or absence of bruxism showed characteristic morphologies near the zygomatic arch, which is the beginning of the masseter near the outline of the side of the face in the upper and mid facial regions.
Conclusion: The subjects who showed habitual snoring and bruxism during sleep had characteristic facial morphologies, suggesting that the 3-dimensional characteristics of the soft maxillofacial tissues may provide a helpful indication at the time of diagnosis.
