Risk factors associated with bruxism in older adults in a health area

Introduction: bruxism represents one of the most prevalent, complex and destructive parafunctional alterations of disorders of the oral cavity in older adults. Objective: to describe risk factors associated with bruxism in older adults in a health area. Method: an observational, case-control, cross-sectional analytical investigation was carried out in the stomatological prosthesis of the Raul Sánchez Rodríguez Universitary Policlinico de Pinar del Río, from July to December 2016. The universe consisted of 9388 patients, a sample of 408 individuals being selected through a simple random sampling and divided into two groups: one experimental group composed of 204 bruxopaths (study group), and another consisting of the same number of apparently healthy individuals (control group). Results: a high level of schooling in both groups (study and control) predominated with 57.4 % and 56.9 %, respectively. In the study group, dysfunction of the front guide (77 %), smoking habit with 76.5 %, presence of occlusal interference (64.2 %), and malocclusion in 71.1% of patients prevailed. Conclusions: some risk factors were significantly related to bruxism in AM patients, and it is necessary to estimate the influence of each one on the probability of suffering from this disorder in order to control their risks and damages to health.