Journal of Craniomandibular Function, 04/2024

Background: Painful disorders of the temporomandibular joints are among the more common diseases in older people. One of the non-invasive measures available is drug therapy to reduce inflammation and pain. The effects and side effects of these medications are therefore of interest. Aim: Adults who visited a dentist and needed treatment due to osteoarthritis-related pain in the temporomandibular joint area should be monitored regarding pain intensity and the impairments of oral-health-related quality of life in this context. Also, undesirable side effects of taking an analgesic and anti-inflammatory medication should be recorded. Method: In a non-interventional observational study, 85 adult participants (18% men, age range 19–93 years) suffering from painful osteoarthritis in one or both temporomandibular joints were included by 29 established study centers in Germany. Before inclusion in the study, the patients were examined according to the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD), and both pain intensity (numerical analog scale, graded chronic pain scale (GCPS) V2) and oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL, OHIP-5) were recorded (T1, N = 85). The inclusion criterion was planned treatment with oxaceprol for at least 90 days. The target parameters were re-evaluated after 28 days (T2, N = 73) and 90 days (T3, N = 60). Results: The average pain intensity of the participants over the previous 30 days decreased from 5.5 (T1) to 3.9 (T2) and 2.5 (T3, analysis of variance (ANOVA) p = 0.001). The effect size of the reduction in pain was 0.58. The maximum pain-free jaw opening improved from an average of 33.0 mm incisal edge distance (T1) to 36.6 mm (T2) and 37.9 mm (T3, ANOVA p = 0.001). The effect size regarding the improvement of maximum pain-free jaw opening was weak. The OHRQoL improved from 6.3 (T1) to 5.6 (T2) and 4.2 OHIP points (T3, Friedman test p = 0.001). The effect size regarding OHRQoL was weak. The reported side effects were mild and transient. Conclusion: The ingestion of oxaceprol was accompanied by a reduction in pain, improvement in pain-free maximum jaw opening, and improvement in OHRQoL. Only mild adverse drug reactions occurred. Keywords: pharmaceutical intervention, non-interventional study, temporomandibular disorders (TMD), temporomandibular joint arthritis, multicenter study, chronic pain

Introduction: Strength, coordination, and endurance in sports are determined by a variety of factors. One way of improving certain factors could be performance-optimizing occlusal splints (OS).Aim: This systematic review addresses the question of whether OS have a significant influence on muscle strength, coordination, or endurance. Material and methods: Literature research was conducted in the electronic databases PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus. After careful screening, 12 recent publications were included. Results: OS did not lead to a deterioration in athletic performance in any case. However, the positive effects were not statistically significant and/or could not be clearly attributed to OS. Significant positive correlations between OS and athletic performance were documented in 4 of the 12 studies. Clinical relevance: OS have no statistically verifiable positive effect on the performance of athletes. However, they also show no negative effects. Potential benefits could be relevant for top athletes who need to exploit performance peaks in competition and thus optimize their performance. Keywords: occlusal splint, athletic performance, performance optimization

Purpose: To evaluate the electromyographic (EMG) activity of masseter muscles (MMs) after the provision of new complete dentures (CDs) and to assess the possible correlations between clinical behavior and the EMG findings. Materials and Methods: The sample included 78 edentulous participants (56 women, 22 men; mean age: 65.59 ± 10.47 years). Prior to provision of the new CDs, surface EMG activity of the masseter muscles was recorded during rest, maximum voluntary contraction, and mastication (MAST) using a wax artifact (WA). The tests were repeated using the new CDs, followed by the WA, at 7 days, 14 days, 21 days, and 10 months. At each assessment after placement of the CDs, the participants were questioned regarding five parameters (comfort, esthetics, retention, mastication, and speech). Results: There was an initial decline in the EMG activity of the masseter muscles after the provision of new CDs during MAST, followed by a gradual increase in this activity over time (P > 0.05). There was a significant improvement in MAST reported by participants at 10 months (3.59 ± 1.141) compared to 7 days (2.50 ± 1.058) (P = .011). There was no significant correlation between the EMG findings and the clinical parameters (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Although there was no significant difference in EMG activity of the MMs over time, an improvement in MAST reported by the participants was observed.

Purpose: To measure the influence of maxillary incisor length and inclination on sound production of the fricative /f/ using spectral analysis. Materials and Methods: The complete dentures of 29 sufficiently treated patients were digitally duplicated. With the CAD/CAM programs GOM Inspect and Blender, the incisors were modified in four different ways (extrusion, intrusion, proclination, and reclination). Speech samples with the inserted, 3D-plotted test dentures were recorded. Spectral analysis of these /f/ sounds was performed using Praat software. The acoustic parameters center of gravity, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis were examined by the Shapiro–Wilk, Kruskal–Wallis, and Nemenyi tests, with a significance level of 0.05. Results: Compared to the original dentures, intruded and proclined maxillary incisors led to significant changes (p 0.02) in spectral characteristics of the /f/ sound. All four acoustic parameters showed measurable, statistically significant changes in the sound formation of the fricative /f/ as a result of the modified incisor position. Conclusions: This impact can also be assumed for any type of tooth replacement in which the maxillary anterior teeth are involved. Keywords: acoustic phonetics, denture, prosthetics, spectral analysis, incisors, pronunciation, tooth position