Background: The purpose of the present research was to identify nutrients related to sleep bruxism and to establish a hypothesis regarding the relationship between sleep bruxism and nutrients.
Methods: We recruited 143 Japanese university students in 2021 and assigned them to sleep bruxism (n = 58) and non-sleep bruxism groups (n = 85), using an identical single-channel wearable electromyography device. To investigate nutrient intakes, participants answered a food frequency questionnaire based on food groups. We assessed differences in nutrient intakes between the sleep bruxism and non-sleep bruxism groups.
Results: Logistic regression modeling showed that sleep bruxism tended to be associated with dietary fiber (odds ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.83-1.00; p = 0.059). In addition, a subgroup analysis selecting students in the top and bottom quartiles of dietary fiber intake showed that students with sleep bruxism had a significantly lower dietary fiber intake (10.4 ± 4.6 g) than those without sleep bruxism (13.4 ± 6.1 g; p = 0.022).
Conclusion: The present research showed that dietary fiber intake may be related to sleep bruxism. Therefore, we hypothesized that dietary fiber would improve sleep bruxism in young adults.
Keywords: biostatistics; dietary fiber; electromyography; nutrition assessment; sleep bruxism; young adult.