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Temporal Cephalic PainNCT03112954

Floral Remedies for Sleep-bruxism Patients

A study testing Buccal-relaxant formula in people with Temporal Cephalic Pain, run by Universidade Federal Fluminense at 1 site in Brazil.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Introduction: Bruxism is a parafunctional habit that affects the stomatognathic system and its support structures. Usually associated with stress and mostly occurring at night, bruxism leads to sleep disorders and daily tension headaches. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 21 to 80 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Temporal Cephalic Pain
What is being tested?
Buccal-relaxant formula
Could I receive a placebo?
Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
How many people
74 participants
Where
1 siteBrazil
Study dates
29 May 2014to 20 Jun 2014
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 21 to 80 years
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Shear noise and/or tooth-grinding, confirmed by a room companion or family member.
  • Observation of wear facets on the tooth surfaces, incompatible with age and function.
  • Presence of two or more symptoms, such as headache in the temporal region, rigid jaw muscles or fatigue at night or upon awakening, locking or difficulty in opening the mouth in the morning, dental hypersensitivity, hypertrophy of the masseter muscles.

Who cannot join

  • Currently in treatment for bruxism, through the use of an interocclusal stabilization splint.
  • Patients with alcoholism. Patients who make use of medications that affect episodes of bruxism, such as analgesics, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, amphetamines, and inhibitors of serotonin reuptake.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Brazil1 site
  • Fluminese Federal University

    Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, 24241

Other trials in Brazil

About this study

Official title: Floral Remedies for Sleep Bruxism Patients: A Randomized Trial for Attenuating Temporal Cephalic Pain

Introduction: Bruxism is a parafunctional habit that affects the stomatognathic system and its support structures. Usually associated with stress and mostly occurring at night, bruxism leads to sleep disorders and daily tension headaches. Aiming to rebalance the emotional and physical state of patients, floral-essence therapy lacks side effects or drug interactions, and has been recognized by the World Health Organization. Aim and Methods: The investigators created a buccal-relaxant formula, combining 8 floral essences and testing it in a double-blind clinical assay conducted in bruxism patients. Results: An alcohol solution of the buccal relaxant containing Daughter of Gaia floral essences of Taraxacum officinale, Antirrhinum majus, Fuchsia × hybrida, Bidens bipinnata, Campanula carpatica, Achyrocline, Nymphaea caerulea, and Tetraoensis riparia significantly attenuated temporal headaches in the bruxism patients compared to the placebo group (69.46%±1.79 versus 3.55%±1.37, P=0.0001). Moreover, patients after 21 days using the buccal relaxant increased their quality of sleep and experienced attenuated jaw-muscle rigidity or morning mouth-opening difficulties. Less masseter hypertrophy and reduced sensitivity due to abfraction of enamel facets were noted as well. Conclusions: The buccal-relaxant formula may have sedative properties, preventing daily temporal headaches in sleep-bruxism patients, suggesting a muscle-relaxation effect. Although the results are promising, long-term studies are needed to clarify the pharmacological mechanism of each floral essence in the buccal-relaxant formula and their tolerance effects.

Read the detailed description

Bruxism is consensually defined as a repetitive jaw-muscle activity, characterized by the clenching or grinding of the teeth and by the bracing or thrusting of the mandible. Considered a common parafunctional activity, its symptoms include hypersensitive teeth, aching jaw muscles, headaches, tooth wear, damage to dental restorations (e.g. crowns and fillings) and damage to teeth20. Within the several types of bruxism, sleep bruxism mostly occurs during periods of sleep arousal and tends to worsen during the day4,10.

Headache is the most frequent onset complaint evolving in the course of the bruxism parafunction. Functional disorders of chewing, speaking, and swallowing may occur, especially when bruxism is associated with temporal mandibular disorders3,19. Despite many published studies and reviews, there is no consensus about the treatment of bruxism11. Most of the approaches focus on preventing the progression of dental wear or on reducing the tooth-grinding sounds. Recently, botulinum toxin19, relaxant drugs, and bite plates for controlling the muscle discomfort2 were reviewed21. Considering the impact of stress on episodes of bruxism, any complementary therapy to aid in relaxation and in controlling distressing thoughts in bruxism patients is welcome. Floral remedies address the rebalancing of patients' emotional status, rather than prioritizing the healing of the disease itself1,6,8,14.

Knowing that floral therapies are recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an alternative treatment, and are known in Brazilian medicine and dentistry for their lack of side effects and low cost5,9, the investigators hypothesized that a floral-formulation therapy could reduce temporal cephalic pain in sleep-bruxism patients.

Materials and methods

A randomized, double-blind, non-gender-specific study was conducted with 74 patients seen in the Temporal Mandibular Disorders clinic of the Odontology Faculty of Universe University. Following physical examinations, 60 patients were randomly allocated to 2 groups of 30 patients each, who had been diagnosed with sleep bruxism. Each patient received a small amber glass bottle containing the floral remedy or placebo, and was instructed to use four drops sublingually 4 times a day for 22 days. All examiners were different professionals, with no contact among each other, as follows: an examiner who conducted the physical examination, an examiner who randomly divided the patients, and an examiner who prepared the floral and placebo remedies. At the end of the study, each group of 30 patients was re-named: Group F, the group of patients who received the floral remedy; and Group P, the group of patients who received the placebo as treatment.

Pain and sleep-quality assessment Pain was evaluated twice, in the beginning and after 21 days of the treatment. Pain was scored using the visual analogue scale (VAS) described by Huskisson6 (1974) and modified by Finkel12.

Patients, holding the VAS, were asked to point to the face/score number that indicated the level of his or her pain. Pain level was measured as follows: No pain or the absence of any discomfort, scored as 0 (zero); mild pain, scored from 1 to 3; moderate pain, scored as 4, 5, 6 or 7; and severe pain, scored as 8, 9 or 10. A second question regarding sleep quality of the patients was answered after 21 days of the buccal-relaxant and placebo treatments. All results were recorded in each patient's folder, under restricted access.

Being tested
Buccal-relaxant formula, Placebo

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Buccal-relaxant formulaDrug

    Following physical examinations, 60 patients were randomly allocated to 2 groups of 30 patients each, who had been diagnosed with sleep bruxism. Each patient received a small amber glass bottle containing the floral remedy and was instructed to use four drops sublingually 4 times a day for 22 days. All examiners were different professionals, with no contact among each other, as follows: an examiner who conducted the physical examination, an examiner who randomly divided the patients, and an examiner who prepared the floral and placebo remedies. At the end of the study, each group of 30 patients was re-named: Group F, the group of patients who received the floral remedy.

  • PlaceboDrug

    30 patients diagnosed with sleep bruxism received a small amber glass bottle containing the saline solution and was instructed to use four drops sublingually 4 times a day for 22 days. All examiners were different professionals, with no contact among each other, as follows: an examiner who conducted the physical examination, an examiner who randomly divided the patients, and an examiner who prepared the floral and placebo remedies. At the end of the study, each group of 30 patients was re-named: Group P, the group of patients who received the placebo.

Study groups in NCT03112954
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Buccal-relaxant formulaExperimentalThe buccal-relaxant formula used in this study contained 8 floral essences from native and non-native plants commonly grown in Brazil, developed at the Mater Gaia Institute. Each patient received a small amber glass bottle containing the floral remedy and was instructed to use four drops sublingually 4 times a day for 22 days.
Receives: Drug: Buccal-relaxant formula
PlaceboExperimentalEach patient received a small amber glass bottle containing the placebo, and was instructed to use four drops sublingually 4 times a day for 22 days.
Receives: Drug: Placebo

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. temporal cephalic pain evaluation

    Pain Pain was evaluated twice, in the beginning and after 21 days of the treatment. Pain was scored using the visual analogue scale (VAS) described by Huskisson6 (1974) and modified by Finkel12. All results were recorded in each patient's folder, under restricted access.

    Patients, holding the VAS, were asked to point to the face/score number that indicated the level of his or her pain. Pain level was measured as follows: No pain or the absence of any discomfort, scored as 0 (zero); mild pain, scored from 1 to 3; moderate pain, scored as 4, 5, 6 or 7; and severe pain, scored as 8, 9 or 10.

    Measured: 21 days

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. Sleep-quality assessment

    A question regarding sleep quality of the patients was answered after 21 days of the buccal-relaxant and placebo treatments. The question was: Did your sleep-quality improved? The answers were: Yes or No. All results were recorded in each patient's folder, under restricted access.

    Measured: 21 days

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted13 Apr 2017
  2. Study start29 May 2014
  3. Primary completion11 Jun 2014
  4. Study completion20 Jun 2014

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Single group
Model description
cohort study.
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
74 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03112954
Sponsor's protocol ID
temporal cephalic pain
Status last verified
Apr 2017
First submitted
23 Mar 2017
Last updated
13 Apr 2017
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Buccal-relaxant formula in people with Temporal Cephalic Pain, run by Universidade Federal Fluminense at 1 site in Brazil.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 13 Apr 2017. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Brazil. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

temporal cephalic pain evaluation (time frame: 21 days). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 13 Apr 2017.

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