The craniofacial morphology and maximum bite force in sleep bruxism patients with signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the present study was to compare craniofacial morphology and bite force of bruxist patients with signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders.

METHOD: Fourteen subjects with sleep bruxism and 14 healthy subjects participated. The signs and symptoms of the temporomandibular disorders were identified according to the Craniomandibular Index (CMI). Maximum bite force was measured using strain-gage transducers. Lateral cephalometric films were taken, and linear and angular measurements were performed.

RESULTS

Bite force between bruxist and non-bruxist females was not significant, whereas males with bruxism revealed higher bite forces. None of the linear and angular measurements differed significantly between bruxist and non-bruxist males. However, higher mandibular corpus length and anterior cranial base length, and lower gonial angle were observed in bruxist females compared to non-bruxist females. Negative correlation between bite force and CMI values was found in both genders.

DISCUSSION: Bruxist females had higher CMI values than bruxist males, which could lead to relatively lower bite forces.