Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine - Department of Dental Public Health

Aim: The current study was carried out to detect the prevalence of bruxism among a group of Egyptian preschool children, to detect the main predisposing factors that may lead to bruxism, and to detect some dental findings associated with bruxism. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 362 children aging 3-6 years who visited Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo University. After filling an informed consent by their parents, clinical examination was done by the main investigator and a diagnostic chart related to bruxism was filled to detect bruxism predisposing factors, other oral habits, and oral findings related to bruxism. Then a questionnaire related to bruxism was filled by their parents to detect the prevalence of bruxism. The data were analyzed by the SPSS program. Results: Bruxism was present in 69 children of the study sample (19.1%). No gender predilection was found in relation to bruxism prevalence. Bruxism prevalence was higher in children having divorced parents (40%) than married parents (18.3%). Bruxism prevalence was higher in children with crowding (55.6%) than without crowding (18.1%).Conclusions: Marital status of parents and teeth crowding are considered the most important factors affecting the prevalence of bruxism. High number of children in the family increases the risk of bruxism. Sleep apnea, oropharyngeal regurgitations, parasitic infections, nail biting, thumb sucking, and mouth breathing have no effect on bruxism prevalence

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