Influence of Type of Personality and Bruxism in Children
Author(s): Deepa Gurunathan*, Mahesh Ramakrishnan, Joyson Moses, Nivedhitha MS and Meghana Reddy J
Abstract
Bruxism is a repetitive jaw-muscle movement characterized by grinding or clenching of teeth in an unconscious manner while awake or in sleep. Bruxism is mostly found in children aged between 3-10 years, it gradually reduces with increase in age. Bruxism has a multifactorial etiology, which includes morphological, pathophysiological and psychosocial factors. Psychosocial factors include anxiety, stress and characteristics of personality. The aim is to do a survey on the influence of personality and bruxism in children. The questionnaire-based study was carried out among parents with children between the ages of 1-17 years. The questionnaire comprised 15 questions which were used to detect the personality changes of children with bruxism. The questionnaire was uploaded on to an online survey platform (google forms) and the link was shared to the parents. Results show that 39.5% of the parents were aware about the clenching habits of their children and 60.47% parents were not aware. 60.5% clenched their teeth during the night whereas only 30.2% children were clenching their teeth due to stress and 9.3% clenched their teeth during the day. 23.3% of the children who clenched their teeth during stress mostly played on their own and 18.6% of the children who clenched their teeth played with a group of friends this shows the trait called extraversion. 39.5% of the children were worried this shows the trait called Neuroticism , 41.9% were dependent on their parents for work this shows the trait called Conscientiousness, 41.9% of the children who clenched their teeth during stress were responsible this shows the trait called agreeableness and 25.6% of the children were interactive with others. Within the limits of this study it is conclusive that personality traits are important factors that influence bruxism among children.