TY  - JOUR
A1  - Herzog, Johanna Ruth
A1  - Göttfert, Florian
A1  - Maurer-Grubinger, Christian
A1  - Holzgreve, Fabian Christian
A1  - Oremek, Gerhard
A1  - Groneberg, Jan David Alexander
A1  - Ohlendorf, Daniela Maren
T1  - Improvement of cervical spine mobility and stance stability by wearing a custom-made mandibular splint in male recreational athletes
T2  - PLOS ONE
N2  - Objectives: The range of motion (ROM) of the cervical spine and postural stability are important for an economical and motorically adequate adaptation of the body to any situation. Therefore, this study aims to analyze whether these two components of postural and movement control can be influenced by means of a splint in a centric position compared to habitual occlusion.
Methods: 38 recreational male athletes volunteered. Cervical spine ROM was recorded using an ultrasound system and the a pressure measuring plate for postural stability (length of center of pressure (CoP) movement, area of CoP). The two dental occlusion conditions employed were the habitual occlusion and wearing a splint in an idealized, condylar position close to the centric position. Level of significance was set at ρ ≤ 0.05.
Results: The cervical spine mobility increased significantly by wearing the splint regarding rotation to the left (+3.9%) and right (+2.7%) and lateral flexion to the left (+4.4%) and right (+6.7%). Wearing the splint reduced the area of sway deflections by about 31.5% in the bipedal stance and by about 2.4% (left) and 28.2% (right) in the unipedal stance. The CoP trace was reduced in the sagittal plane by approximately 8.2% in the right single-leg stance.
Conclusions: The major findings seem to demonstrate that wearing a splint that keeps the jaw close to the centric relation may increase the cervical ROM and may improve balance stability in male recreational athletes. Changing the jaw relation in athletes can possibly aid the release of performance potentials by improving coordination skills.
KW  - Musculoskeletal mechanics
KW  - Postural control
KW  - Jaw
KW  - Myalgia
KW  - Legs
KW  - Musculoskeletal system
KW  - Skeletal joints
KW  - Sport
Y1  - 2022
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/85903
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-859035
SN  - 1932-6203
N1  - Gefördert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds der Goethe-Universität
VL  - 17
IS  - 12, art. e0278063
SP  - 1
EP  - 16
PB  - PLOS
CY  - San Francisco, California, US
ER  -