BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Epidemiologic studies of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) bring general understanding of the role of sleep bruxism (SP) as TMD triggering and/or perpetuating factor. To date, studies on this association have not shown conclusive results. A reason for the low specificity level of this association is the different diagnostic methodology, both for TMD and SB. This study aimed at evaluating the possible cause and effect ratio between SB and TMD. CONTENTS: Systematic literature review of research databases Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE, Pubmed, LILACS and BBO. Eligible criteria were papers published between January 2000 and August 2012, using the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC/TMD) for TMD diagnosis and polysomnography (PSG) for SB evaluation. Nine studies were selected by crossing chosen keywords. After applying inclusion criteria, four studies were selected. From five discarded studies, two were pilot studies, one was a review article, one case report and one comparative study not using RDC/TMD. CONCLUSION: Evaluated studies were unable to establish a positive relationship between SB and TMD when keywords sleep bruxism, temporomandibular disorders and polysomnography were crossed; however they reinforce the need for referring TMD patients with sleep disorders to polysomnographic evaluation.
Polysomnography; RDC; Sleep bruxism; Temporomandibular disorder
