Intelligent Occlusion Stabilization Splint with Stress-Sensor System for Bruxism Diagnosis and Treatment

• Main Authors: Jinxia Gao, Longjun Liu, Peng Gao, Yihuan Zheng, Wenxuan Hou, Junhui Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-12-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: bruxism; biofeedback treatment; occlusal splint; engineering; machine learning; artificial intelligence; data analysis; stress sensor system
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/1/89

Bruxism is a masticatory muscle activity characterized by high prevalence, widespread complications, and serious consequences but without specific guidelines for its diagnosis and treatment. Although occlusal force-based biofeedback therapy is proven to be safe, effective, and with few side effects in improving bruxism, its mechanism and key technologies remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to research a real-time, quantitative, intelligent, and precise force-based biofeedback detection device based on artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for the diagnosis and treatment of bruxism. Stress sensors were integrated and embedded into a resin-based occlusion stabilization splint by using a layering technique (sandwich method). The sensor system mainly consisted of a pressure signal acquisition module, a main control module, and a server terminal. A machine learning algorithm was leveraged for occlusal force data processing and parameter configuration. This study implemented a sensor prototype system from scratch to fully evaluate each component of the intelligent splint. Experiment results showed reasonable parameter metrics for the sensors system and demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed scheme for bruxism treatment. The intelligent occlusion stabilization splint with a stress sensor system is a promising approach to bruxism diagnosis and treatment.