We Haven’t Connected All the Dots Between Bruxism and Sleep Apnea – Sleep Review

Posted by Sree Roy | Aug 18, 2020 | Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Bruxism

Gilles Lavigne, DMD, MSc, PhD, says about 55% of OSA patients have a bruxism develop after their sleep apnea diagnosis and only about 25% have sleep-related bruxism rhythmic masticatory muscle activity (RMMA) evident prior to an OSA diagnosis.
There is “very low support for a cause and effect—it’s not a consistent sequence,” says Lavigne, who is professor, dean, and Canada Research Chair in Pain-Sleep-Trauma at the University of Montreal and a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. “Some more recent data suggest less rhythmic masticatory muscle activity—the EMG [electromyography] muscle biomarker on [polysomnography] for SB—in OSA patients. The why? It’s unknown and open to research.” (Extrait)