Effects of Manual Therapy and Home Exercise in Bruxism

Summary

Objectives: This trial aimed to examine the effects of manual therapy and home exercise treatments on pain, sleep quality, stress level and quality of life in patients with bruxism.

Methods: Thirty bruxists over the age of 18 were included in the study. The patients were randomly divided into Manual Therapy Group (MTG) and Home Exercise Group (HEG). Before treatment (T1) demographic information was obtained from all patients, they were asked to fill out the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Fonseca Anamnestic Index (FAI) and Quality of Life Scale/Short Form-36 (SF-36) and number of trigger points and pain levels were determined at baseline. Manual therapy and home exercises were applied to both groups for 8 weeks and all tests were repeated and re-evaluated at the end of 8 weeks (T2). After that, the data was analyzed with statistical tests.

Conditions

• Bruxism
• Manual Theapy
• Exercise
• Orofacial Pain

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Manual Therapy

Various soft tissue and joint mobilizations, intramuscular stretches, trigger point treatments, and intraoral applications for the temporomandibular joint were performed in 15 randomly selected bruxism patients. Soft tissue mobilization techniques were applied bilaterally on the trigger points in the masseter, temporal, lateral and medial pterygoid muscles of the masticatory muscles in the transverse direction from inside and outside the mouth. In addition, deep friction massage and myofascial relaxation techniques were applied to suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles, sternocleidomastoid, scalene, upper trapezius, levator scapula and suboccipital muscles until relaxation was felt. In addition, distraction and bridging techniques were applied in the suboccipital region to release the tissue and fascia techniques were applied in the cervical region to loosen the fascia. The manual therapy procedure, which was applied in the supine position and lasted approximately 40 minutes for 8 weeks

PROCEDURE

Home Exercise

The exercise group consisted of 15 randomly selected bruxist individuals and aimed to reduce pain, decrease involuntary contractions of masticatory muscles, increase their nutrition, flexibility and coordination, and strengthen weak muscles with exercise therapy. These exercises consist of resistant isometric jaw movements to increase coordination and relaxation of the masticatory muscles (post isometric relaxation technique), Rocabado exercises, stretching and posture exercises for temporal, masseter and suprahyoid muscles as well as neck muscles. All individuals in this group were taught the programmed exercises practically and were asked to repeat the home exercises (lasting approximately 25 minutes) three times a week for 8 weeks. In addition, a video explaining the exercises in detail was shared with all participants in the group in order to ensure that the exercises were not forgotten and to achieve accuracy and standardization among the participants.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ankara University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

25 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-05-01

Primary Completion

2024-08-20

Completion

2024-08-25

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations