Harada T, Ichiki R, Tsukiyama Y, Koyano K. (2006). The effect of oral splint devices on sleep bruxism: a 6-week observation with an ambulatory electromyographic recording device. Journal of Oral Rehabilitation, 33(7): 482-8.
This study investigated the effect of stabilization splint (SS) and palatal
splint (PS), which had the same design as SS except for the elimination of the
occlusal coverage, on sleep bruxism (SB) using a portable electromyographic (EMG)
recording system. Sixteen bruxers participated in this study. The EMG activities
of the right masseter muscle during sleep were recorded for three nights each in
the following five recording periods: before, immediately after, and 2, 4 and 6 weeks
after the insertion of the splint. The crossover design, in which each splint
was applied to each subject for 6 weeks with an interval of 2 months
for a washout period, was employed in this randomized-controlled study. The
number of SB events, duration and total activities of SB were analysed. The
number of SB events before the insertion of splints (baseline) was 2·98 ±
1·61 times h
1.
Both splints significantly reduced SB immediately after the insertion of devices
(P < 0·05, one-way repeated-measures anova
followed by Dunnett); however, no reduction was observed in 2, 4 or 6 weeks
(P > 0·05). There was no statistical difference in the
effect on SB between the SS and PS (P > 0·05, two-way
repeated-measures anova). Both splints reduced
the masseter EMG activities associated with SB; however, the effect was
transient.