The relationship of bruxism with emotion recognition levels and personality traits

Bruxism is a parafunctional activity that occurs during the day or at night that involves clenching and grinding with the teeth in tight contact. Although clenching is a parafunction experienced during the day, parafunctions experienced during sleep include both clenching and grinding. Neurological, psychosocial, pathophysiological, genetic, morphological, systemic, etc., which are effective in the formation of bruxism, which is less common in adults than in children. There are various etiological factors. Primary forms of bruxism include daytime clenching and sleep bruxism. Secondary forms of bruxism are associated with neurological, psychiatric or sleep disorders or drug withdrawal. In this study, besides alexithymia, which can be summarized as personality traits and emotion blindness, in order to investigate their interaction with bruxism; It is aimed to determine the psychological causes and consequences of bruxism by including psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, and Toronto Alexithymia Scale were applied to the participants in the study, which was carried out with 163 participants who applied to the Esendent Oral and Dental Health Center for dental examination, which constitutes the sample of the research. Participants' age, gender, etc. Based on their sociodemographic characteristics, the psychological causes of bruxism were examined. In this study, relational screening design, one of the quantitative data analysis methods, was used. When the findings obtained during the research process were examined, it was determined that the sub-states of bruxism showed significant relationships with personality traits, levels of recognizing emotions, depression and anxiety at various levels and aspects. When the results of the research were examined in detail, it was determined that the sub-states of bruxism showed a significant relationship with various personality trait sub-factors, especially neuroticism. In addition, it has been determined that the sub-states of bruxism have a significant relationship with various sub-factors of alexithymia, especially the difficulty of recognizing emotions and the difficulty of expressing emotions. Finally, it can be said that the sub-states of bruxism show the most intense correlation with depression and anxiety in the research process. This indicates that individuals experiencing various forms and conditions of bruxism may experience various psychological problems, especially depression and anxiety. The data obtained were discussed within the framework of the literature and suggestions for future research were presented.