Page 19 - Portuguese Journal - SPORL - Vol 61. Nº1

There are several theories on the caregiver during a period of time that varied
pathophysiology of this association: children from three to 12 months after surgery.
with apnea have frequent nocturnal micro- The inclusion criteria were children aged
arousals associated with an increase in between two and 12 years with a clinical
parafunctional activity, including masticatory diagnosis of OSRBD (snoring, mouth
activity, with activation of the masticatory breathing, gaps in breathing, attention deficit,
muscles that in turn leads to bruxism. 7 daytime sleepiness, hyperactivity), with grade
Moreover, children with airway obstruction III or IV tonsillar hypertrophy according to the
place their jaws in a more anterior position Brodsky classification.
to improve the patency of the airway, which The exclusion criteria were as follows: children
stimulates receptors and increases the tone with a personal or family history of cleft palate
of the upper airways. 8 In addition, mouth or other craniofacial syndromes, children
breathing can interfere with the sleep cycle currently undergoing or having previously
and affect brain oxygenation, thereby causing undergone orthodontic treatment, and
involuntary contraction of the facial muscles. 8 children whose caregivers were unaware of
The objective of the present study was to bruxism.
determine the prevalence of bruxism in
children with obstructive sleep-related Results
breathing disorders (OSRBD) and evaluate Between January and November 2021, 54
the impact of adenotonsillectomy on the children with a mean age of 6.7 ± 2.6 years
improvement or resolution of the disorder. underwent adenotonsillectomy due to a sleep
breathing disorder.
Materials and Methods Table 1 shows the distribution of the children
This retrospective study evaluated the with bruxism by sex, age, and grade of
prevalence and clinical course of bruxism tonsillar hypertrophy according to the Brodsky
in children aged between two and 12 years classification before surgery.
who underwent adenotonsillectomy due to Twenty-two of the 54 children (41%) showed
OSRBD between January and November 2021 evidence of bruxism in the questionnaire. There
at the Beatriz Ângelo Hospital. were no significant statistical correlations
A questionnaire containing closed-ended between the prevalence of bruxism and
questions was administered by telephone parameters of sex (Pearson’s chi-square
(see Figure 1) and was answered by the child’s test; P-value=0.65), age (Mann Whitney test;

Table 1
Characterization of the study sample before surgery

Bruxism (n) Without bruxism (n)
Sex
Female 11 18
Male 11 14

Age (years)
2-5 9 14
6-9 11 11
10-12 2 7
Tonsillar hypertrophy
Grade III 18 26
Grade IV 4 6

Volume 61 . Nº1 . March 2023 19