Maria João Rodrigues
Sleep bruxism in the context of temporomandibular disorders
- Associated Professor at the University of Coimbra, Faculty of Medicine, in charge of the following undergraduate courses: Physiology of the Stomatognathic System; Occlusion/ Orofacial Pain / Temporomandibular Disorders.
- She also teaches a post-graduation in Occlusion/TMJ Phathology and Prosthodontics Rehabilitation at the same University.
- She is a teacher in other post-graduation courses as: the Ortodontics post-graduation (Dentistry Department); Acupuncture (Dentistry Department); Experimental Pathology (Medicine Department); Pain (Medicine Department).
- She is reviewer at: Journal of Oral Rehabilitation; European Journal Of Oral Sciences; Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal; RBMJ Case Reports; Revista Portuguesa de Estomatologia e Cirurgia maxilo-facial.
- She was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Portuguese Dental Association From 1999 to 2009.
- She is a founder member of the Prosthodontics and Occlusion Section of the Portuguese Society of Stomathology and Dental Medicine (SPEMD); member of SPEMD section for Periodontology and Implantology; member of SPEMD section for Biomaterials and New Technologies; member of the Portuguese Academy of Oral Pathology; elected member of the Scientific Society of the Portuguese Catholic University; researcher at the Mechanical Engineering Center at the University of Coimbra CEMUC, since 2008.
- She was also a member of the Internacional Akademie of Gnatologie (I.A.G.)- European Section, as country’s representative.
- She is member of the Internacional College of Dentists, since 2002. She is delegate for Portugal, Region 1(Europe) of the Pierre Fouchard Academy.
- Professor Maria João Rodrigues has been council member and Portugal Delegate of the European Academy of Craniomandibular Disorders and was elected president of EACD for 2017/2018.
Nationality: Portugal
Scientific areas: Occlusion
8 of november, from 10h00 until 10h30
Auditório D
Conference summary
The concept of bruxism and its pathophysiology has been the subject of successive updates, most recently during the 2017 meeting of the International Network for Orofacial Pain and Related Disorders Methodology (INORGRA). One of the consensual results was the elaboration of distinct definitions for sleep bruxism and sleep and wakeful. bruxism.
Currently sleep bruxism is defined as a muscular activity that occurs during sleep, characterized as rhythmic (phasic) or non-rhythmic (tonic). In healthy subjects, it is not considered to be a motor dysfunction or a sleep disorder.
It is, however, a risk factor for temporomandibular disorders, since high levels of masticatory muscle activity increase the likelihood of negative consequences for oral health, including muscle and / or joint pain.
Recent knowledge about sleep bruxism allows the current discussion and classification, depending on the cases, of the different clinical consequences, which could be: an innocuous habit; in other cases, a risk factor, particularly for temporomandibular disorders; or, finally, some cases where it could act as a protection factor against other pathologies.
It will also be approached the assement of sleep bruxism and the treatment of possible consequences for the patient with temporo-mandibular dysfunction.