Is there a relationship between head posture and craniomandibular pain?

Abstract

An often-suggested factor in the aetiology of craniomandibular disorders (CMD) is an anteroposition of the head. However, the results of clinical studies to the relationship between CMD and head posture are contradictory. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to determine differences in head posture between well-defined CMD pain patients with or without a painful cervical spine disorder and healthy controls. The second aim was to determine differences in head posture between myogenous and arthrogenous CMD pain patients and controls. Two hundred and fifty persons entered the study. From each person, a standardized oral history was taken and blind physical examinations of the masticatory system and of the neck were performed. The participants were only included into one of the subgroups when the presence or absence of their symptoms was confirmed by the results of the physical examination. Head posture was quantified using lateral photographs and a lateral radiograph of the head and the cervical spine. After correction for age and gender effects, no difference in head posture was found between any of the patient and non-patient groups (P > 0.27). Therefore, this study does not support the suggestion that painful craniomandibular disorders, with or without a painful cervical spine disorder, are related to head posture.

Craniocervical posture analysis in patients with temporomandibular disorder

“…Even though this was a common alignment observed in patients with TMD in the present study, the present data do not support those authors' results. In the same way, Visscher et al 2 did not observe any postural differences between their control group with TMD and different types of TMD.…”

“…Most of the studies in the literature using photos to analyze head positioning and quantify cervical lordosis evaluated individuals with TMD through their signs and symptoms 2,7,[10][11][12]14,[27][28][29] .…”

“…Some authors have claimed that patients with TMD present postural abnormalities of head and neck lordosis more frequently than patients without TMD 5,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16] . However, other authors 2,8,17 have claimed that individuals with TMD present no more abnormalities in these segments than individuals without TMD. Despite the controversy, most studies have included patients with signs and symptoms of TMD.…”

“…The most important characteristic of such dysfunctions is chronic pain [1][2][3] . Because of its high prevalence, TMD has been considered to be a public health condition and has become a subject of interest among professionals and researchers 4 .…”

Alterações no controle motor mandibular e cervical de crianças com paralisia cerebral

“…However, postural changes of the head are not necessarily more frequent in subjects with TMD 4 . There are also reports that the asymmetric electrical activity of masticatory muscles is higher in individuals with TMD 24,25 and this abnormal activity can be influenced by changes oclusais 15 .…”