BruxApp is the brainchild of a clinician, Dr. Alessandro Bracci, who has worked with bruxism patients for about 20 years.
He was unsatisfied with the shortcomings of the available diagnostic and therapeutic options. The literature does not offer valid information on the treatment indications for awake bruxism (when, and when not), and one of the reasons is the absence of sound data on its epidemiology.
In the field of awake bruxism diagnosis, self-reported data collection leads, at best, to diagnosis of “possible bruxism”. In addition, such an approach is limited by the subjective answers, that could be influenced both by the patient’s and clinician’s preconceived ideas or knowledge.
In addition, even the establishment of a correct management strategy was difficult. Typical pep-talks and recommendations based on the words “Please, mind your jaws…keep them relaxed and do not clench your teeth” were ineffective clinically due to the difficulties to reinforce the message constantly!
Thus, there was a need for an Easy, Effective, Economic tool that might help the dentist making a diagnosis and re-educating the patient with the introduction of habits that are not detrimental for the stomatognathic structures.
Once Dr. Bracci met Prof. Daniele Manfredini, one of the most respected worldwide experts in the topic, the two settled down a partnership of intent in the field of clinical research on bruxism. This gave life to the BruxApp project.
The missing piece of the puzzle was a specialist software developer, which was identified in Goran Djukic, analysta of the Institute of Clinical Physiology (IFC), the biggest biomedical, clinically-oriented institute within the National Research Council (CNR) in Pisa.
Two years later, in January 2016, BruxApp was born and launched on the market as the first scientifically sound application for smartphones fully dedicated to bruxism.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
BruxApp is an application that looks simple, but it is technically complex and with multifaceted, extraordinary potential.
The current version is only a starting point for further developing wider projects on the management of bruxism and orofacial pain.
Future developments are going to involve both clinical and research aspects:
- In the clinical setting the potential usefulness of BruxApp will be implemented toward a better definition of awake bruxism diagnosis, an improved knowledge on its biofeedback potential for management purposes, and a proposal for possible prevention strategies.
- In the research setting, a multicenter study on the epidemiology of awake bruxism will be surely the most relevant goal, because of its impact on the scientific communities of interest. To do this, and thanks to this, the application will undergo continuous testing and improvement in contents and functions, based on the feedback received by the patients, clinicians, and researchers. The target is ambitious: creating a worldwide database to analyze un unprecedented amount of data on bruxism. Parallel to this, other research topics concern the medium- and long-term effectiveness of educational strategies associated with the potential biofeedback effects.
