Improvement of bruxism after T & A surgery

Bruxism or tooth grinding is an oral habit that frequently occurs during steep. Some authors suggest it is associated to steep apnea. Objective: The main goal of this study is compare the incidence of bruxism before and after adenotonsillectomy (T Et A surgery) in children with steep-disordered breathing. Methods: This is a prospective study in which we evaluated 69 consecutive children from the Otolaryngology Department of the University of Sao Paulo Medical School in pre- and post-surgical periods of adenotonsillectomy. Before and after surgery parents answered a questionnaire about steep-disturbed breathing and bruxism. Children were submitted to E.N.T. examination and speech pathologist evaluation. The orthodontist inspected malocclusion. Before surgery all the 69 children presented steep apnea and 45.6% presented bruxism. Malocclusion could be found in 60.71%. Three months after surgery none of the children presented breathing problems and only 11.8% presented bruxism. There was no difference in malocclusion. Conclusion: This study suggests that there is a positive correlation between steep-disordered breathing and bruxism. There was an important improvement of bruxism after T Et A surgery. Otolaryngologists must be aware that this pernicious steep disorder is associated to airway obstruction and so, it must be considered when evaluating T Et A hyperplasia. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.