Occlusal Splint Effectivity in Child Bruxism

Background: Bruxism is defined as a repetitive activity of the masticatory muscles characterized by teeth clenching or teeth grinding or by tapping and moving the jaw. Patients with bruxism may experience symptoms of jaw muscle pain or attrition of teeth. An occlusal splint is a removable appliance that is made in accordance with the occlusal and incisal surfaces of the teeth in one of the opposing jaw arches. The mechanism of the occlusal splint in reducing bruxism is muscle relaxation, to break the habit in patients with increasing intensity of bruxism and reduce the tooth wear.
Aim: The aim of writing this article is to find out the effectiveness of the use of occlusal splints in child bruxism cases.
Mini-Review: This Literature review was compiled by collecting, identifying, evaluating, and analyzing the journals PubMed, Wiley, Science Direct, and manual searches during the publication time period 2011 to 2021 regarding the effectiveness of using an occlusal splint to treat cases of bruxism in children. From 261 journal articles obtained in the initial search, 6 full-text journals were found that met the criteria and were carried out.
Conclusion: The occlusal splint is effective to overcome cases of bruxism in children.