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ePaper created 2016-04-13, 11:38:23 | version 1.38.0
About 8 per cent of the world popu- lation has bruxism,a condition com- monly associated with sleep disor- ders.Whileexistinghometestingde- vices are expensive and not patient friendly, Bruxlab (Booth N12) makes it possible to detect the oral para- functional activity in a cheap and easy way. The Dutch company has developed diagnostic tools to record and quantify any grinding sounds using machine learning, mobile app technology and wearables. Dental Tribune spoke with Michiel Allessie, owner of Bruxlab, about the algo- rithmusedtodetect bruxism. Dental Tribune: Mr Allessie,you have beenageneraldentistwithyourown practice for over 14 years. How have you detected signs of bruxism in the past, and what have been the major disadvantages of conventional ways ofdiagnosingsleepbruxism? MichielAllessie:Theclinicalsigns arealwaysthesame:excessivetooth wear, sensitive teeth, headaches, fa- tigued jaw muscles in the morning, etc. The problem is that sleep brux- ism can stop spontaneously. Also, a large group of bruxers are not chronicbruxers.So,adentistcannot determine whether there is active sleep bruxism and the patient is a chronic bruxer using the con- ventional clinical signs. I see this as a major disadvantage. Now, we can track patients using our DoIGrind app to see if there is active bruxism and if it is chronic. Our Bruxsticker makesitpossibletomeasuremove- ment of the lower jaw during sleep. The integrated nano-accelerometer andBluetoothchip,incombination withourapp,recordandfiltertooth- grinding sounds over multiple nights. If bruxism is left untreated, the problems with chronic patients can be very severe in the long term. For non-chronicpatients,thelong-term problemsmaybemild.Itrackthose patients with the app twice a year to check that they have not become chronicbruxers. YoufoundedBruxlabin2014foreffec- tive treatment of bruxism using an innovative app. What is the idea be- hind Bruxlab and how does it work? What should dentists and patients know? We created an algorithm that can filter any tooth-grinding sounds and tooth contact sounds. The lat- ter often indicate the beginning of a clenching episode. I validated thesoundsusingthegoldstandard, polysomnography, better known as a sleep test. This test will tell you if there was muscle activity at the same time that a grinding sound was detected. The device on which the app is loaded is placed next to the bed and records and filters any tooth-grinding sounds. On average, we reduce 8 hours of sleep to 5 minutes of relevant sounds. The sounds are uploaded to the cloud, where the dentist can listen tothem.Mostdentistsrecommend the app to prove to patients that they are correct about suspecting sleep bruxism. Once bruxism has been detected using the DoIGrind app, what treat- ment options do you recommend to dentistsandpatients? This depends on whether the pa- tient is a chronic and severe bruxer or a non-chronic and rather mild bruxer. For the chronic and severe bruxers, I usually prescribe a splint (night guard). For other patients, I first try behavioural modification through counselling to see if they stop grinding and clenching. That is the greatest advantage about this product:youcanuseitoverandover againatnoextracosttothepatient. Thank you very much for the inter- view. AD Aneasierwaytodetectbruxism An interview with Bruxlab owner Michiel Allessie 23 Show Tribune United Kingdom Edition | 3/2016 SCIENCE & PRACTICE MarcChalupsk DTUK0316_23_Allessie 12.04.16 12:09 Seite 1 DTUK0316_23_Allessie 12.04.1612:09 Seite 1