Bruxism that may accompany bruxism, but by mechanically protecting the teeth rather than reducing the bruxing activity itself. In a minority of cases, sleep bruxism may be made worse by an occlusal splint. Some patients will periodically return with splints with holes worn through them, either because the bruxism is aggravated, or unaffected by the presence of the splint. When tooth-to-tooth contact is possible through the holes in a splint, it is offering no protection against tooth wear and needs to be replaced. Occlusal splints are divided into partial or full-coverage splints according to whether they fit over some or all
Bruxism sleep, the voluntary muscles are inactive due to physiologic motor paralysis, and the jaw is usually open. Some bruxism activity is rhythmic with bite force pulses of tenths of a second (like chewing), and some have longer bite force pulses of 1 to 30 seconds (clenching). Some individuals clench without significant lateral movements. Bruxism can also be regarded as a disorder of repetitive, unconscious contraction of muscles. This typically involves the masseter muscle and the anterior portion of the temporalis (the large outer muscles that clench), and the lateral pterygoids, relatively small bilateral muscles that act together to perform sideways