Association between possible awake bruxism and bullying among 8- to 11-year children/adolescents.

BACKGROUND Bruxism is characterized by tooth grinding and/or clenching. AIM To evaluate the association between possible awake bruxism (PAB) and bullying among individuals aged 8 to 11 years of age. DESIGN A representative cross-sectional study was conducted with 434 8-11-year children/adolescents. Parents/caregivers answered a questionnaire to provide data on sociodemographic characteristics. Children/adolescents answered a questionnaire about the occurrence of PAB. The Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire was used. Poisson regression was performed. RESULTS Out of the 434 children/adolescents, 209 (48.2%) were boys and 225 (51.8%) were girls. The mean age of the children/adolescents was 9.14 years (± 1.00). Children/adolescents who were victims of bullying (PR=1.52, 95% CI=1.14-2.04, p=0.005) and bullies-victims (PR=2.08, 95% CI=1.36-3.17, p=0.001) presented a higher frequency of PAB than those who were not involved in bullying. CONCLUSION Children/adolescents who were bullying victims and bullies-victims had a higher frequency of PAB.