Association of sleep and wake bruxism in patients with migraine

Introduction: When migraine evolves from episodic to chronic form, it becomes more disabling, due to refractory treatment and the arising of comorbidities. Bruxism has already been associated with migraine in adults, with a bidirectional relationship between sleep bruxism and chronic migraine. This study aimed to assess whether sleep and wake bruxism are more prevalent in chronic migraine when compared to episodic migraine and also to establish possible clinical correlations with chronification. Methods: 210 patients were allocated to the study, 97 with episodic migraine (EM) and 113 with chronic migraine (CM). The patients were submitted to face-to-face interviews with a neurologist to confirm the diagnosis and fill in the scales: specific questionnaire for the diagnosis of sleep and wake bruxism, PHQ-9 (depression), GAD-7 (anxiety), Epworth Scale (sleepness), MIDAS and HIT-6 scales to assess the migraine disability and the headache impact on patients. Results: The prevalence of sleep and wake bruxism was similar in patients with EM versus CM (p=0.300 and p=0.238). The correlation of patients with both bruxism forms at the same time with the high scores on the migraine disability and the headache impact, was higher among patients with chronic migraine than in patients with chronic migraine. episodic migraine (p <0.001). Conclusion: Sleep and wake bruxism alone aren’t more prevalent in chronic migraine when compared to episodic migraine. In patients affected with both bruxism forms, bruxism only causes a greater impact and disability on individuals with chronic migraine.