KRAS: the Achilles' heel of pancreas cancer biology.

BACKGROUND

In recent times, smartphones have become a major part of our lives due to its various benefits such as easy accessibility of information, social connectivity, convenience, smaller size etc. Smartphone overuse can cause stress in a student which can invariably lead to clenching or grinding of teeth and temporomandibular disorder.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between smartphone use, stress due to over-usage, bruxism and temporomandibular disorders among dental students in a private dental institution in Chennai, India.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

The present cross-sectional study was conducted among Dental undergraduates and postgraduates studying in a private dental institution in Chennai about smartphone usage. The sample included 121 undergraduate and postgraduate dental students. A self-administered pre-tested questionnaire containing 18 questions was filled out by the participants and was followed by a clinical examination for Bruxism and Temporomandibular disorder. Descriptive statistics was used and the association was assessed using Pearson's Chi-Square test. Statistics were done using SPSS version 23.0 and the p-value was set at 0.05.

RESULTS

Out of the total 121 participants, 80 (66.1%) were males and 41 (33.9%) were females. 99 (81.8%) were undergraduates and 22 (18.2%) were postgraduates. 90 (74.4%) felt stressed when unable to use their smartphone whereas 31 (25.6%) did not feel so. Bruxism was determined in 95 (78.5%) of the study participants, including 87 out of 90 (96.7%) in those feeling stressed and 8 out of 31 (25.8%) in those not feeling stressed when unable to use a smartphone (p=0.0005).

CONCLUSIONS

In the present study, a significant association was found between stress over not being able to use a smartphone and bruxism. Using smartphones for learning purposes is definitely beneficial when used appropriately.