Purpose: The aim of this article was to assess the sleep behaviors that serve as risk factors related to bruxism in children ages 0 to 12 years by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies.
Methods: Seven databases were searched to identify all peer-reviewed articles potentially relevant to the review. Data were pooled for random-effects modeling. Sleep risk factors related to bruxism in this age group are summarized using pooled odds ratios (ORs), 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and P values.
Results: Of 5637 initially identified articles, 14 met inclusion criteria. Study qualities of all case-control studies were high. Quality of cross-sectional studies was more variable. The pooled ORs, 95% CIs, and P values were as follows: snoring (2.86, 1.85-4.42, <0.0001), mouth breathing (1.51, 1.04-2.18, 0.029), restless sleep (2.31, 1.89-2.83, <0.0001), drooling (1.79, 1.07-2.97, 0.026), stomach position during sleep (1.70, 1.0-2.39, 0.003), and inadequate sleep time (2.56, 1.48-4.43, 0.001).
Conclusions: Snoring, mouth breathing, restless sleep, drooling, stomach position during sleep, and lack of sleep were the risk factors related to bruxism in children.
Keywords: Bruxism; Children; Meta-analysis; Sleep; Systematic review.