Bruxism Frequency and Low-Intensity Occlusal Tactile Detection in Healthy Adults

Objective: This cross-sectional study investigated whether the frequency of waking-state and sleep-related bruxism is associated with sensitivity to occlusal tactile stimuli (i.e., occlusal tactile acuity) in healthy individuals. Methods: Forty healthy participants (20 females and 20 males) completed the Oral Behavioural Checklist to assess the frequency of waking-state and sleep-related bruxism. Participants were stratified into groups representing low, medium, and high bruxism frequency. Occlusal tactile acuity was evaluated using articulating foils of different thicknesses (8–56 μm) and sham trials presented in random order. Each stimulus was tested six times. Participants indicated whether they perceived a foil between their teeth. Signal detection theory was applied to distinguish perceptual sensitivity from response strategy. Results: Detection accuracy increased with foil thickness. Individuals with a high frequency of sleep-related bruxism exhibited reduced detection of thinner foils (8–24 μm) compared with those with low frequency of sleep-related bruxism (p = 0.029). Additionally, participants with high-frequency waking-state or sleep-related bruxism were more reluctant to report occlusal contact, indicating a more conservative reporting strategy (p = 0.045 and p = 0.002, respectively). Conclusions: Higher frequency of sleep-related bruxism was associated with reduced detection of low-intensity occlusal stimuli and a more conservative reporting strategy. These findings indicate an association between sleep-related bruxism frequency and differences in occlusal tactile detection. However, as the bruxism assessment was based on self-reports, these findings should be interpreted with caution.