Environmental factors, sleep duration, and sleep bruxism in Brazilian schoolchildren: a case-control study

• New perspectives emerge in the etiology of sleep bruxism (SB) in children.
• Children’s sleep quality and association with SB emerge in our research.
• Our results describe the importance of educational work with families regarding SB.
• Our results highlight the importance of multidisciplinary work.

ObjectiveThe purpose of our study was to evaluate the association between environmental factors, sleep duration, and sleep bruxism (SB) in schoolchildren.MethodsA case-control study was performed. Individuals participating in the study were randomly chosen from public and private schools in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. A total of 120 children with bruxism and 240 without bruxism (mean age, 8 years) participated in our study. A questionnaire for parents was used to collect data based on criteria taken from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Conditional binary logistic regression statistical tests and χ2 tests were used for analysis.ResultsThe final logistical model found that children with a median sleep time ⩽8 h per night (odds ratio [OR], 2.561 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.480–4.433]), who did not enjoy a good night’s sleep (OR, 3.253 [95% CI, 1.600–6.615]), who slept with noise in the room (OR, 2.699 [95% CI, 1.645–4.429]), and who had the light on (OR, 2.370 [95% CI, 1.446–3.884]), were more likely to have SB.ConclusionChildren who sleep for less than 8 h a night are more likely to have SB. Light and noise in the room were two predisposing factors for the occurrence of SB.