This cross-sectional study was conducted on children and adolescents with CP receiving care
services in three different private rehabilitation centers between January 2020 and March
2021. All the parents or primary caregivers included in the study were mothers of children
with CP. Initially, information about bruxism and parafunctional oral habits and the study's
aims were given to the mothers. All the mothers provided written informed consent for
voluntary participation.
63 children and adolescents with spastic CP were analyzed, comprising 35 girls and 28 boys.
All the children were observed in clinical environments for classification according to the
Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) and levels of activity and communication.
Data were collected from an evaluation form, clinical examination of the individuals, and
interviews with the mothers.
In the first section of the evaluation, the medical records of the children with CP were
reviewed for demographics, and clinical data, including age, gender, CP type, medication, and
history of epilepsy. The GMFCS was used to determine the level of impairment in gross motor
functions of the children.
In the second section of the evaluation, bruxism and other parafunctional oral activities
were evaluated in detail through a face-to-face interview with each child's mother.
Other parafunctional oral habits were both questioned and observed in the clinical
environment. The presence of sucking habits (thumb sucking, lip-biting, nail-biting, and
cheek biting) and the use of a pacifier for more than 24 months was noted and recorded as
present or absent.
The tongue-thrust reflex evaluation scale was applied for tongue thrust. Swallowing problems
were evaluated with the water swallowing test, drooling with the saliva control problem
severity, and frequency scale.
The habit of chronic breathing through the mouth was evaluated through information gained
from the mother and from observation of whether nasal or buccal breaths were taken during
routine treatment and evaluation in the clinical environment. For the evaluation of chewing
problems, information about feeding was obtained from the mother and recorded as difficulty
in chewing solid food, otherwise as absent.
