The efficacy of oral splints in the treatment of myofascial pain of the jaw muscles: a controlled clinical trial

Abstract

Oral splints are widely used in the treatment of myofascial pain of masticatory muscles, even though their mechanism of action is unknown. The present study evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of splints using a parallel, randomized, controlled and blind design. Following a sample size estimation, 63 subjects were recruited and assigned to 3 groups: (1) passive control: full occlusal splint worn only 30 min at each appointment; (2) active control: palatal splint worn 24 h/day; and (3) treatment: full occlusal splint worn 24 h/day. On each of 7 visits over 10 weeks, subjects rated on 100 mm visual analogue scales their pain intensity and unpleasantness at rest and after experimental mastication. The effect of pain on the quality of life was also rated on category scales. All pain ratings decreased significantly with time, and quality of life improved for all 3 groups. However, there were no significant differences between groups in any of the variables. These data suggest that the gradual reduction in the intensity and unpleasantness of myofascial pain, as well as the improvement of quality of life during the trial, was non-specific and not related to the type of treatment.

Treatment of temporomandibular disorders by stabilising splints in general dental practice: results after initial treatment

“…However, two out of three other randomly controlled studies which have compared the stabilising splint with a non-occluding control have shown both appliances equally effective. 6,7 In these two studies patients were all diagnosed with myofascial pain. There has been only one study that showed the stabilising splint to be significantly better than a control splint.…”

Síndrome de dolor miofascial. Revisión de la literatura a propósito de un caso clínico

“…Debido a que los dos grupos presentan la misma inervación por el V par craneal y una sintomatología similar, se vuelve complicado diagnosticarlos de manera independiente [9][10][11] . Los trastornos temporomandibulares como el síndrome de dolor miofascial se pueden presentar en articulaciones sin alteraciones previas y suelen ser el 50-75% de las causas de atención odontológica a nivel mundial [12][13][14][15] , por lo cual se considera un dolor común pero incomprendido que involucra el dolor referido por los puntos gatillo en el musculo esquelético 16,17 .…”

Terapia com placa oclusal com e sem guias anteriores de desoclusão em pacientes com disfunção temporomandibular e zumbido subjetivo

“…Acredita-se que seja uma condição de importância substancial na saúde pública com uma prevalência de aproximadamente 10% entre adultos (LERESCHE, 1997 LEEUW et al, 1994;DAO et al, 1994). O controle dos estudos pode ser realizado através de placebo, lista de espera controle ou controlados por não tratamento.…”

“…Outros efeitos incluem a eliminação ou alteração da influência da informação proprioceptiva nociva das interferências oclusais RIISE, 1986;MAZZETTO, 2008); redução ou modificação do padrão de atividade muscular noturna (SHEIKHOLESLAM; HOLMGREN; RIISE, 1986), e são ainda relatados, aumento da dimensão vertical (CHANDU et al, 2004) e efeito placebo (DAO et al, 1994;CAPP, 1999;RÉ et al, 2009;THURMAN;HUANG, 2009). …”

“…A literatura apresenta uma grande variabilidade em relação aos protocolos de ajuste das placas oclusais, sendo que muitos trabalhos não relatam algum ajuste da placa RIISE, 1986;FITTINS;SHEIKHOLESLAM, 1993;DAO et al, 1994;TRUELOVE et al, 2006;SAVABI;NEJATIDANESH;KHOSRAVI, 2007), ou relatam apenas um ajuste NILNER, 1998NILNER, e 2003.…”