Bruxism minimizing gradual changes to the positions of the teeth, preventing tooth damage and revealing the extent and patterns of bruxism through examination of the markings on the splint's surface. A dental guard is typically worn during every night's sleep on a long-term basis. However, a meta-analysis of occlusal splints (dental guards) used for this purpose concluded "There is not enough evidence to state that the occlusal splint is effective for treating sleep bruxism." A "repositioning splint" is designed to change the patient's occlusion, or bite. The efficacy of such devices is debated. Some writers propose that irreversible complications can result
Bruxism in research declined from over 60% of publications in the period 1966–86 to about 10% in the period 1997–2007. In the 1960s, a periodontist named Sigurd Peder Ramfjord championed the theory that occlusal factors were responsible for bruxism. Generations of dentists were educated by this ideology in the prominent textbook on occlusion of the time, however therapy centered around removal of occlusal interference remained unsatisfactory. The belief among dentists that occlusion and bruxism are strongly related is still widespread, however the majority of researchers now disfavor malocclusion as the main etiologic factor in favor of a more multifactorial, biopsychosocial model