Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the construct validity of perceived tooth grinding for sleep bruxism using the known groups method in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD).
Methods: The subjects comprised 148 consecutive outpatients who were diagnosed as having TMD. The subjects underwent multiple patient questionnaires including Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and reported the intensity of their subjective orofacial pain using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Clinical examinations, including muscle palpation, were conducted by two clinicians whose diagnostic reliability had already been verified.
Results: The subjects were classified into bruxer (n=74) and non-bruxer (n=74) groups according to the levels of their perceived tooth grinding during past six months. No significant differences were found between the two groups in age, sex, TMD subgroup distribution, pain intensity (spontaneous pain, pain during jaw movements and headache), intensity and number of locations of muscle tenderness, and intraoral findings (the intensity of attrition, scalloping tongue and cheek biting). A logistic regression analysis using five subscales of SCL-90-R along with sex and age revealed that females (odds ratio=3.15, P=.028) and anxiety (odds ratio=1.06, P=.003) were statistically significant variables for perceived tooth grinding.
Conclusions: The study results suggest that the construct validity of perceived tooth grinding is low as clinical criteria for sleep-related bruxism.
