BACKGROUND: Sleep bruxism has been described as a combination of different orofacial motor activities that include grinding, clenching and tapping, although accurate distribution of the activities still remains to be clarified. METHODS: We developed a new system for analyzing sleep bruxism to examine the muscle activities and mandibular movement patterns during sleep bruxism. The system consisted of a 2-axis accelerometer, electroencephalography and electromyography. Nineteen healthy volunteers were recruited and screened to evaluate sleep bruxism in the sleep laboratory. RESULTS: The new system could easily distinguish the different patterns of bruxism movement of the mandible and the body movement. Results showed that grinding (59.5%) was most common, followed by clenching (35.6%) based on relative activity to maximum voluntary contraction (%MVC), whereas tapping was only (4.9%). CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the tapping, clenching, and grinding movement of the mandible could be effectively differentiated by the new system and sleep bruxism was predominantly perceived as clenching and grinding, which varied between individuals.