Usage of Gadgets and Bruxism in Children-A Questionnaire Study
Author(s): Meenapriya M, Deepa Gurunathan*, Nivedhitha MS, Joyson Moses and Mahesh Ramakrishnan
Abstract
Background: Technology plays a vital role in our daily lives. These include electronic games, home computers, handheld devices and different types of gadgets. Generally, children and adolescents nowadays use gadgets excessively. Usage of gadgets can have negative and positive impacts on children. Bruxism is a non -functional grinding or clenching of teeth. This habit can be conscious or unconscious during the day or night. Aim: This survey aims at assessing the usage of gadgets among children associated with bruxism in children. Materials and Methods: A survey questionnaire on the usage of gadgets and bruxism was prepared. This survey was conducted by circulating among the parents. The questions were focused on the bruxism and usage of gadgets by the children. Bruxism questions were framed according to the guidelines given by American Association of Sleep Medicine. The results were analyzed. Results: There was higher participation of age groups of 6 to 10 years than the other age groups. Most of the children use the gadgets more frequently. Most of the children spend their time playing games online. The awareness of the parents about the ill effects of using gadgets prevails in 60.29% of the parents. Most of the parents attempted to control the usage of gadgets (39.71%). The clenching or grinding of the teeth is present in 67.65%. Most of the children clench their teeth during the day (32.81%). The present study reported that most of the children don’t experience headaches (44.12%) during waking up. 50% don’t experience jaw pain. 51.47% don’t experience tooth or gum pain when waking up. It has also been reported that during stress or after continuous usage of gadgets, 47.06% don’t clench their teeth. 35.29% of the parents are aware that the usage of gadgets can cause tooth grinding. 41.18% of the parents feel that their children’s sleep gets disturbed due to the continuous usage of gadgets. 57.35% of the parents are aware of the treatment strategies. Conclusion: Usage of gadgets does not bring about a direct impact to the child. It does impact the stress, outcome of the score of the games played and so on. Therefore, future studies should be conducted to bring about the correlation of using gadgets and bruxism in children.