Nocturnal bruxing events in subjects with sleep-disordered breathing and control subjects.

Nocturnal bruxing events were recorded during a single night of sleep for 12 subjects with sleep-disordered breathing and 12 age- and sex-matched controls. The results suggest that bruxing events are very common in both groups and are closely associated with sleep arousals. There were few differences in the number, duration, or type of bruxing events between these two groups. Bruxing events were common during stage 1, stage 2, and REM sleep, while they rarely occurred during stage 3 and 4 sleep. The average duration of bruxing events ranged from 3.82 to 6.68 seconds. There was a trend toward more bruxing events occurring while sleeping on the back than on the side.