Home Health The vibrating bracelet that could help people to stop grinding their teeth at night

The vibrating bracelet that could help people to stop grinding their teeth at night

by Alexander
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Teeth grinding ¿ or bruxism ¿ affects up to 30 per cent of UK adults (Stock image)

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A bracelet that vibrates during sleep could stop people grinding their teeth.

The wrist-worn gadget is wirelessly connected to a mouth guard packed with pressure sensors.

These detect the grinding of teeth and send a signal to the bracelet to gently vibrate twice in quick succession – each time for just a fraction of a second.

Research suggests that this is enough to rouse someone sufficiently from sleep to stop grinding their teeth without waking them completely.

The device can reduce teeth grinding episodes by almost 80 percent.

Teeth grinding – or bruxism – affects up to 30 per cent of adults in the UK. The pressure on the teeth during grinding can be more than 20 times greater than the force produced by normal chewing and biting.

As a result, the teeth may be damaged or chipped. Bruxism can also cause sleep disturbances, headaches and discomfort in and around the jaw.

Teeth grinding ¿ or bruxism ¿ affects up to 30 per cent of UK adults (Stock image)

Teeth grinding – or bruxism – affects up to 30 per cent of adults in the UK (Stock Image)

Stress and anxiety are the most common triggers, but it’s also more likely in heavy snorers (the mouth can be dried out from labored breathing, and researchers believe that clenching and grinding help lubricate it).

Treatment usually involves wearing a mouth guard at night to protect the teeth from damage.

Currently, the only way to confirm a diagnosis is with a sleep study – or polysomnography – which requires an overnight stay at a sleep center where doctors record episodes of grinding.

But the new wristband and mouth guard – developed by the Swiss company Aesyra, a spin-out from the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne – could simplify both testing and treatment.

Four pressure sensors are embedded in the resin-based mouth guard. When the wearer brushes their teeth, the sensors react within two seconds to send a signal to the bracelet.

At the same time, the data is downloaded to an app to track bruxism episodes.

During prototype testing at Siena University’s dental school in Italy, patients with bruxism wore the technology for three consecutive nights.

A bracelet that vibrates during sleep could stop people grinding their teeth. The gadget is wirelessly connected to a mouthguard packed with pressure sensors (stock image)

A bracelet that vibrates during sleep could stop people grinding their teeth. The gadget is wirelessly connected to a mouthguard packed with pressure sensors (stock image)

A bracelet that vibrates during sleep could stop people grinding their teeth. The gadget is wirelessly connected to a mouthguard packed with pressure sensors (stock image)

The results, published in the International Journal of Dentistry in 2022, showed that they experienced an average of seven grinding episodes every hour – each lasting about seven seconds – when the mouthguard was worn but not connected to the bracelet.

When the bracelet was switched on, the number of episodes dropped by almost 80 per cent.

A larger trial with around 30 patients is now underway at the San Gerardo Hospital in Italy.

Dentist Mick Armstrong, chairman of the British Dental Association’s health and science committee, said it was ‘a potentially interesting development’.

He added: ‘In some people, bruxism can be frequent and severe enough to lead to jaw disorders, headaches, damaged teeth and other problems.

‘It’s important to reduce stress, while dentists can provide a soft or hard mouth guard to wear at night, which will prevent you from damaging your teeth.’

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