Physical therapy interventions for awake and sleep bruxism: What has been the approach over the last decades? A systematic review of the evidence and research gaps.

Authors

Ana Izabela Sobral de Oliveira Souza, Jakelline Raposo, Jordana Barbosa da Silva, Maryllian Albuquerque Vieira, Gesa Hahn, Harry von Pierkartz, Susan Armijo-Olivo

Published in

Dental and medical problems. Volume 63. Issue 3. Pages 707-733.

Abstract

The objective of this systematic review was to summarize the physiotherapy (PT) treatments used over the last few decades to manage awake bruxism (AB), sleep bruxism (SB) or unspecified bruxism in adults. Searches were conducted in 5 databases, and all stages of the review were performed independently by 2 reviewers. A total of 1,745 records were identified through the database searches. Of these, 86 studies underwent full-text assessment, and 13 met the inclusion criteria. An additional manual search identified 2 further eligible studies, resulting in a total of 15 studies included in this systematic review. A variety of PT modalities were reported in the literature. Manual therapy (MT) combined with occlusal splint therapy or kinesiotaping demonstrated positive effects on clinical outcomes, including orofacial pain, sleep quality, the number of trigger points, and jaw disability in individuals with bruxism. Overall, PT may be beneficial for individuals with bruxism, particularly those with associated conditions such as temporomandibular disorders (TMD) or headaches. However, the available evidence is limited and heterogeneous, and most included studies presented a high risk of bias.

PMID:
42497348
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Jul 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.