SCHOOL BULLYING AND THE ROLE OF THE DENTIST: BRUXISM AND DENTAL FRACTURES AS CLINICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MARKERS OF VICTIMIZATION

Resumen

Introduction: school bullying is a chronic psychosocial stressor associated with somatic manifestations in children and adolescents, among which bruxism and its dental complications have been increasingly documented in the dental literature. Objective: to narratively review the scientific evidence on the association between school bullying, sleep and awake bruxism, dental wear and fracture, and to discuss the role of the dentist in the early detection of bullying victimization. Methods: a narrative literature review was conducted in indexed databases (PubMed, SciELO, Wiley Online Library), prioritizing Brazilian and international observational studies published mainly in the Journal of Oral Rehabilitation and the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry. Results: adolescents involved in verbal bullying episodes present up to six times greater odds of probable sleep bruxism, with reported prevalence of up to 65% in the victimized group versus 17% in the non-exposed group. Similar findings were described for awake bruxism in children aged 8 to 11 years. Pathological dental wear and fracture of restorations and dental structures are among the most frequently reported clinical consequences of bruxism, thus constituting indirect, objective indicators of exposure to this stressor. Conclusion: routine dental clinical examination, by identifying signs of bruxism and its sequelae, may serve as a complementary screening tool for school bullying, reinforcing the dentist's role as a health surveillance agent for children and adolescents within an intersectoral protection network.