Prevalence of bruxism in down syndrome patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Orofacial pain and dysfunction in patients with special needs, with a focus on interdisciplinarity

ABSTRACT

People with special needs, like those with Down syndrome, Parkinson disease, or dementia, frequently suffer from orofacial pain conditions and dysfunction of the masticatory system. However, the accurate assessment of orofacial pain and dysfunction in such individuals is challenging. In this review, the complexities of assessing and managing orofacial pain and dysfunction in special needs populations will be described, along with their comorbid orofacial conditions like impaired oral health, salivary problems, and movement disorders of the masticatory system. In addition, the importance of maintaining or restoring a good quality of life will be highlighted, while the urgent need for oral care as part of palliative care will be stressed as well. To accomplish all this, interdisciplinary collaboration between medical doctors and dentists should be promoted in research, education, prevention, and care provision. Therefore, this review focuses specifically on this important topic.

Development and evaluation of a new website on oral health and Down syndrome

AIMS

The objective of this study was to develop a new website in Spanish on oral health and dental care for use by the relatives/caregivers of individuals with Down syndrome, with the aim of incorporating the strengths and avoids the deficiencies of existing websites.

METHODS

A freely accessible website was developed with dental content, whose access criteria included the age of the individual undergoing the consultation and the area of interest (tongue or teeth disease, oral functionality, oral hygiene, and dental visits). The definitive version of the website was analyzed by five external examiners, applying the DISCERN criteria and the Questionnaire to Evaluate Health Web Sites According to European Criteria (QEEC). The website's traffic during the first year of activity was recorded.

RESULTS

The new website is known as "DentiDown", and its access domain is https://odontoloxia-accessible.org/dentidown/. On the home screen, the age group of interest to the user can be accessed. A dropdown menu then opens, listing the various options according to the area of interest. The oral hygiene section provides advice for improving toothbrushing efficacy through demonstration videos. With the DISCERN tool, an overall score of 4.75 ± 0.5 was achieved. With the QEEC, the external examiners' general opinion was highly favorable. The website received the seal of quality from the Accredited Medical Web (AMW). During the first year of activity, a total of 4536 visits from a total of 45 countries were recorded.

CONCLUSION

A new Spanish website has been developed on oral health for use by the relatives/caregivers of individuals with Down syndrome. The website has been favorably evaluated by external experts and, to date, is the only one with these characteristics with the AMW seal of quality.

Prevalence of awake Bruxism: A systematic review

OBJECTIVES

To identify the prevalence of Awake Bruxism (AB).

SOURCES

The electronic search was done in Embase, PubMed/MEDLINE, LILACS, Livivo, Scopus, and Web of Science databases up to January 2nd, 2023. The search strategies combined terms such as "bruxism," "awake," and related terms when conducting searches in databases. Grey literature was consulted through Google Scholar, ProQuest, and OpenGrey.

STUDY SELECTION

Two independent reviewers participated in the study selection stages and included observational studies assessing the prevalence of AB, detected using reporting feedback (self or family report), clinical examination, and/or instrumental methods, regardless of the sex and age of the population.

DATA

Methodological quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute's checklist for prevalence studies. Ratio meta-analyses were performed using R Statistics software.

RESULTS

From a total of 3,083 studies identified by the searches on databases, 322 articles were reviewed the full-text and a total of 81 (quantitative synthesis) and 83 (narrative synthesis) studies were included. Only fifteen studies reached complete methodological quality. Two overall meta-analyses were performed, grouped based on convenience and population-based samples. The overall prevalence for possible AB was 32.08 % and 16.16 %, respectively. For the subgroup analyses, the prevalence rate showed a wide variation in different studied populations, approximately 14 %-32 % for women and 19 %-30 % for men, for population-based and convenience studies, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Possible AB prevalence was set from 16 % to 32 %. Studies with probable AB and definitive AB are still necessary.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Studying the prevalence of waking bruxism is of interest to both dentists and patients. Knowing the probability of patients having awake bruxism allows the dentist to offer comprehensive preventive approaches to patients, avoiding deleterious consequences resulting from this condition. The present study reveals that the condition of bruxism during wakefulness is present in one out of every six adult patients studied. In pediatric patients, although this condition seems to be equally present, not enough studies were found to support this information for probable and definitive bruxism.