A randomized double-blind clinical trial of the effect of amitriptyline on nocturnal masseteric motor activity (sleep bruxism).

Using a double-blind and randomized experimental design, ten adult subjects with sleep bruxism were administered amitriptyline (25 mg/night) and placebo (25 mg/night), each compound over a period of one week. Neither the intensities and locations of pains nor the nocturnal masseteric electromyographic activities were significantly affected by the tricyclic antidepressant. In fact, intake of amitriptyline was unpredictably associated with either an increase or a decrease in masseteric electromyographic activity (microV.s/min of sleep). On the basis of this study, small doses of amitriptyline cannot be recommended for the control of sleep bruxism and associated discomforts.