Efficacy of stabilisation splint treatment on the oral health‐related quality of life–A randomised controlled one‐year follow‐up trial

Abstract

The aim of this randomised controlled trial was to assess the efficacy of stabilisation splint treatment on the oral health-related quality of life OHRQoL during a 1-year follow-up. Originally, the sample consisted of 80 patients (18 men, 62 women) with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) who had been referred to the Oral and Maxillofacial Department, Oulu University Hospital, Finland, for treatment. Patients were randomly designated into splint (n = 39) and control group (n = 41). Patients in the splint group were treated with a stabilisation splint. Additionally, patients in both groups received counselling and instructions on masticatory muscle exercises. The patients filled in the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) questionnaire before treatment and at 3 months, 6 months and 1 year. At total, 67 patients (35 in the splint group vs. 32 in the control group) completed the questionnaire at baseline. The outcome variables were OHIP prevalence, OHIP severity and OHIP extent. Linear mixed-effect regression model was used to analyse factors associated with change in OHIP severity during the 1-year follow-up, taking into account treatment time, age, gender and group status. OHIP prevalence, severity and extent decreased in both groups during the follow-up. According to linear mixed-effect regression, decrease in OHIP severity did not associate significantly with group status. Compared to masticatory muscle exercises and counselling alone, stabilisation splint treatment was not more beneficial on self-perceived OHRQoL among TMD patients over a 1-year follow-up.

No evidence on the effectiveness of oral splints for the management of temporomandibular joint dysfunction pain in both short and long-term follow-up systematic reviews and meta-analysis studies

“…Regardless of the splint mode of action, many old and several recent clinical trials and systematic reviews have documented its therapeutic effectiveness in reducing pain intensity and improving masticatory function in patients with painful temporomandibular disorder (TMD) 12,13 . However, most of the current literature did not demonstrate any beneficial effect in short-term 14 and long-term follow-up 15 .…”

“…After reviewing the abstracts, 1,377 studies were excluded from the analysis, and 1,041 were considered for further fulltext screening. Finally, a total of 22 studies 14,15,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] were included in this systematic review 38 .(Fig. 1)…”

“…(3) Intermediate follow-up period: three months Nine studies with thirteen comparisons at the three months' follow-up period were included 14,15,19,23,[28][29][30][31][32] . One study compared occlusal splints with medications 23 , two studies involved occlusal splints with a non-occluding palatal splint 19 , and three studies compared occlusal splints with counsel-ling 15,31 . Two studies by Wahlund et al 29,32 compared splints with relaxation, and two comparisons with self-care 30 .…”

“…In twelve studies, the control group exhibited better results than the splints 14,15,19,23,[28][29][30][31] , with one study in favor of splints 32 .…”

“…Total subgroup analysis of the identified studies with a total of 704 participants revealed a significant overall effect on pain reduction in favor of the control (SMD 0.18, 95% CI 23 . Two comparisons between splint and counselling 15,37 One study compared splints with relaxation 32 , while the remaining study compared occlusal splints versus cognition 27 .…”