The prevalence of bruxism and oral parafunction activities among Israeli juveniles with autism spectrum disorder: A preliminary study during the COVID-19 pandemic

Orit Winocur-Arias; Bat-Chen Amitai; Efraim Winocur; Tom Shmuly; Osnat Grinstein Koren; Shoshana Reiter

doi:10.1080/08869634.2023.2277618

The prevalence of bruxism and oral parafunction activities among Israeli juveniles with autism spectrum disorder: A preliminary study during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cranio. 2023 Nov 14:1-9. doi: 10.1080/08869634.2023.2277618. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Orit Winocur-Arias¹, Bat-Chen Amitai¹, Efraim Winocur², Tom Shmuly³, Osnat Grinstein Koren¹, Shoshana Reiter¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine and Maxillofacial Imaging, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
² Department of Oral Rehabilitation, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.

PMID: 37964571
DOI: 10.1080/08869634.2023.2277618

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of oral habits, bruxism, and Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) injuvenileswithautisticspectrumdisorder(ASD).

Methods: Data included 165 juveniles diagnosed with ASD, allocated to younger group aged 6 21 (n=86) and older group aged 13-21 (n=79).

Results: Sleep bruxism was reported by 26.7% in the younger group and by 5% in the older group. Awake bruxism was reported by 22% and 17.7%, respectively. Oral habits were reported by 43% of all participants, with similar rate in both groups. TMD related p ain was low in both groups (6.3% and 7% respectively). The influence of the COVID 19 pandemic on oral parafunction was moderate in the younger group (17.4%) and mild in the older group (8.6%), influence on bruxism was mild in both groups (5.8% and 2.5%, respectively).

Conclusion: The prevalence of bruxism and oral parafunctions was similar to the reported in the literature for the general population.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); Coronavirus 2019 (COVID 19); awake/sleep bruxism; oral parafunction/habits; temporomandibular disorders (TMD).