Effect of parafunctional clenching on temporomandibular disorder pain and proprioceptive awareness.

This study tested the hypothesis that parafunctional clenching increases pain, can lead to a diagnosis of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain, and can produce reductions in proprioceptive awareness. Twenty individuals participated in EMG biofeedback training sessions on the left and right temporalis and masseter muscles. No subjects had TMD prior to training. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a Decrease group, who were instructed to maintain EMG activity below 2 microV during training, or an increase group, who were instructed to maintain EMG activity above 10 microV. To test the impact of parafunctional clenching on proprioceptive awareness, all subjects were instructed to barely touch their teeth together while EMG activity was recorded pre- and post-training. Three subjects assigned to the Increase group and no subjects assigned to the Decrease group were diagnosed with TMD pain following training. Self-reported pain post-training was significantly higher for the Increase group. Parafunctional clenching did not affect performance in the proprioceptive test.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes