The influence of gender and bruxism on human minimum interdental threshold ability

• Main Authors: Patrícia dos Santos Calderon, Evelyn Mikaela Kogawa, Lívia dos Santos Corpas, José Roberto Pereira Lauris, Paulo César Rodrigues Conti
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of São Paulo 2009-06-01
• Series: Journal of Applied Oral Science
• Subjects: Bruxism; Differential threshold
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1678-77572009000300018

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of gender and bruxism on the ability to discriminate minimum interdental threshold. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and fifteen individuals, representing both genders, bruxers and non-bruxers, with a mean age of 23.64 years, were selected for this study. For group allocation, every individual was subjected to a specific physical examination to detect bruxism (performed by three different examiners). Evaluation of the ability to discriminate minimum interdental threshold was performed using industrialized 0.010 mm-, 0.024 mm-, 0.030 mm-, 0.050 mm-, 0.080 mm- and 0.094 mm-thick aluminum foils that were placed between upper and lower premolars. Data were analyzed statistically by multiple linear regression analysis at 5% significance level. RESULTS: Neither gender nor bruxism influenced the ability to discriminate minimum interdental threshold (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Gender and the presence of bruxism do not play a role in the minimum interdental threshold.