Association between Unilateral Chewing Habit and Mental Stress and Anxiety amongYoung Adults- A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction Stress and Anxiety were the modern-day’s hidden epidemic. Stressful situations increase cortisol secretion which is found to be more dominant in the right hemisphere. Anxiety is found to reduce serotonin levels and also reduce the functioning of the left hemisphere. Mastication is found to be one of the stress-coping behaviors as it acts on the HPA axis to reduce the increased cortisol and catecholamine levels thereby reducing stress-induced changes in the hypothalamus and hippocampus. With this background, a study on mental stress and anxiety and its relationship with unilateral chewing habits was conducted targeting young adults. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 360 patients attending the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology were included. Questionnaires Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and Open Hemispheric Brain Dominance Scale 1.0 (OHBDS1.0) were used to collect data. To determine the chewing side, sugar-free chewing gums were given to the participants, and instructed to chew as they normally would. This was video recorded by covering only the area of interest to protect their privacy. Result The association between the dominant hemisphere and stress level in males is found to be statistically non-significant. (p value 0.05). The association between the dominant hemisphere and stress level in females is found to be statistically significant (p value 0.05). The association between the dominant hemisphere and anxiety level in males and females was found to be statistically non-significant. The association between the dominant hemisphere and chewing side preference in males and females was found to be statistically significant. Conclusions Our study showed that there exists a correlation between the levels of mental stress and unilateral chewing habit and no significant association between levels of anxiety and unilateral chewing habit. The study also revealed that the unilateral chewing habit was predominantly present on the left side among both female and male participants. Key Words Anxiety, Dominant brain hemisphere, Stress, Unilateral chewing