Abstract
ObjectivesIt is not clear whether dopaminergic medication influences bruxism behaviour in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Therefore, the aims are to investigate (i) the prevalence of possible (i.e., self-reported) bruxism (sleep and awake) in PD patients, and (ii) whether the use of dopaminergic medication and other factors (viz., demographic characteristics, PD-related factors, and possible consequences of bruxism) are associated with possible bruxism (sleep or awake).Materials and methodsThis study concerns a secondary analysis of an earlier published study. Three hundred ninety-five PD patients (67.9 ± 8.6 years of age; 58.7% males) were included. The levodopa equivalent daily dosage (LEDD) was used as a measure of the dopaminergic medication level. Subsequently, a logistic regression analysis was performed for the dependent variables ‘awake bruxism’ and ‘sleep bruxism’, with the following predictors: gender, age, LEDD, time since PD diagnosis, temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain, jaw locks, and tooth wear.ResultsThe prevalence of possible awake and sleep bruxism was 46.0% and 24.3%, respectively. Awake bruxism was associated with sleep bruxism (OR = 8.52; 95% CI 3.56–20.40), TMD pain (OR = 4.51; 95% CI 2.31–8.79), and tooth wear (OR = 1.87; 95% CI 1.02–3.43). Sleep bruxism was associated with tooth wear (OR = 12.49; 95% CI 4.97–31.38) and awake bruxism (OR = 9.48; 95% CI 4.24–21.19). Dopaminergic medication dose was not associated with awake bruxism (OR = 1.0; 95% CI 0.99–1.00) or sleep bruxism (OR = 1.0; 95% CI 0.99–1.00).ConclusionBruxism is a common condition in PD patients, but is not associated with the dopaminergic medication dose.Clinical relevance(Oral) health care providers should be alerted about the possibility of sleep and awake bruxism activity in PD patients, along with this activity’s possible negative health outcomes (viz., TMD pain, tooth wear).
Highlights
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that is characterised by a combination of motor and non-motor symptoms [1]
The unadjusted associations for awake bruxism showed a possible association (p < 0.10) with age (odds ratio (OR) 0.94; 95% CI 0.92–0.97), sleep bruxism, temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain, jaw locks, and tooth wear
The results showed that in a PD population, the levodopa equivalent daily dosage (LEDD) was not associated with the self-reports of awake and sleep bruxism
Summary
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that is characterised by a combination of motor and non-motor symptoms [1]. The classical motor symptoms are bradykinesia, rigidity, and tremor. Examples of non-motor symptoms are cognitive decline, pain, and sleep problems. The aetiology of PD is not fully understood, it is known that degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra causes deficits in dopamine levels [1]. The prevalence of PD in The Netherlands is registered at 2 per 1000 persons and is expected to rise [2, 3]. Suppression of the symptoms through the administration of dopaminergic replacement therapy is possible. Clin Oral Invest (2021) 25:2545–2553 the precursor of dopamine, is commonly used for the medical management of PD symptoms [4]
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