by Steven Olmos, DDS, DABCP, DABCDSM, DABDSM, DAAPM, FAAOP, FAACP, FICCMO, FADI, FIAO

We need to evaluate our sys­tem of treatment. A patient presents with worn denti­tion or complaints of muscle soreness. The dentist produces a nightguard without further in­ vestigation. The result is that the treatment helps the symptom of muscle soreness, makes it worse or has no effect. The dentist is unclear what to do.

Facial muscles are sore because of central nervous system stimulation. Jaw joints break down the result of continued nocturnal parafunctional activity. We bite harder at night due the result of proprioception ascending to the cerebellum and basal ganglia in­ stead of the cortex where we rec­ognize how hard we are biting. In the daytime proprioception as­cends to the cortex where we are conducted a study on one hundred adult bruxers and their relation­ ship to stress and anticipatory stress measured by EMG. They found: “No overall relationship was established between electro­myographic measures and the personality variables nor between electromyographic measures and self-reported stress.”

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