Association between bruxism and emotional stress in military policemen

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of bruxism and emotional stress in military policemen and test their association. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in members of the Military Police of the State of Maranhao in Sao Luis, MA. Sample was composed by 81 male subjects (mean age = 33.5 years). Bruxism was diagnosed according to clinical criteria – presence of aligned wear facets associated with at least one of the following signs and symptoms: selfreport of bruxism grinding sounds, pain to palpation of the masseter and temporal muscles, report of morning masticatory muscle discomfort and/or masseter muscle hypertrophy. To diagnose stress the Stress Symptoms Inventory was applied. Results: The prevalence of bruxism was 33.3% and frequency of emotional stress was 13.6%. The stress prevalence in individuals with bruxism was significantly higher than that in subjects without bruxism (Chi-square test, P=0.003). Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, it can be concluded that stress was associated with bruxism in this sample of policemen. Key words: Bruxism; stress; policemen