Teeth Grinding and Facial Pain Raise Due to COVID-19 Stress

50% of Israeli women suffer from excessive jaw-clenching, teeth grinding and/or pain in facial muscles due to lockdown-related stress and anxiety. Also, women aged 35- to 55-years old suffered most from these symptoms compared to men, as per the Tel Aviv University study. "We believe that our findings reflect the distress felt by the middle generation, who were cooped up at home with young children, without the usual help from grandparents, while also worrying about their elderly parents, facing financial problems and often required to work from home under trying conditions," the researchers say.

The study led by Dr. Alona Emodi-Perlman and Prof. Ilana Eli of TAU's Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine at TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine, was published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.

Questionnaires, answered by 1,800 respondents in Israel and Poland, were assessed for the presence and worsening of symptoms among the general population during the first COVID-19 lockdown.

The results concluded that the prevalence of jaw-clenching in the daytime rose from about 17% to 32%; and teeth-grinding at night rose from about 10% to 36%. A rise of about 15% in their severity is also seen.

The researchers also found that probability of TMD and Bruxism was much higher among respondents in Poland.

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Source-Medindia