INTRODUCTION: The word "bruxism" means grinding or clenching your teeth without apparent functional objectives that usually occurs during sleep, and this generally associated with arousals. Visually impaired people are more likely to submit sleep disorder due to a possible pineal gland dysfunction by altering melatonin production and therefore the present bruxism symptoms related to the absence of perception of light. OBJECTIVE: To verify the bruxism occurrence and sleep disturbance within visually impaired individuals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Convenience sampling case-by-case of 63 volunteers with visual acuity under 0.05 (20/400) down to absence of visual perception. Submitted to Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) test and Bruxism Diagnostic Enquiry. RESULTS: The prevalence of bruxism and low quality sleep were, respectively, of 80.95% and 85.71%. Bruxism was more prevalent in those with congenital visual impairment (65.08%) than those with acquired visual impairment (34.92%), with no significant statistical difference between men and women. However, the occurrence of low quality sleep was similar between those with congenital and acquired visual impairment. It was verified the positive relation with bruxism and low quality sleep. CONCLUSION: It was possible to verify a high occurrence of bruxism and sleep disturbance in the surveyed population. This study has major epidemiological contribution and its results might be used to guide further therapeutic interventions.
Bruxism; Sleep disturbance; Visually impaired
