Effect of Massage Therapy and Occlusal Splint Therapy on the Electromyographic Activity and Mandibular Range of Motion in Individuals With Temporomandibular Disorder

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01874041

Enrollment

Registered

2013-06-10

Start date

2010-01-31

Completion date

2012-12-31

Last updated

2014-08-19

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Temporomandibular Disorder

Keywords

Physical Therapy Modalities, Facial Pain, Orthodontic Appliances

Brief summary

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of massage therapy and occlusal splint therapy in the electromyographic activity and mandibular range of motion (ROM) in individuals with temporomandibular disorder (TMD) and compare the results with those obtained in a group of individuals without this disorder. Twenty-eight volunteers with TMD were randomly distributed into two groups, massage therapy and occlusal splint. Both treatments lasted 4 weeks. Fourteen individuals without TMD were consecutively allocated to the control group. The Fonseca's anamnestic index was used to characterize TMD and allocate the volunteers to either the intervention groups or control group. The electromyographic activity and Mandibular ROM was evaluated before and after treatment using a digital caliper. Two-way analysis of variance with the Bonferroni test was used for inter and intragroup comparisons (level of significance was set to 5%). Cohen's d was used to calculate the effect size.

Interventions

OTHERMassage

OTHEROcclusal splint

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 40 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* male and female volunteers * aged 18 to 40 years

Exclusion criteria

* occurrence of missing teeth * current use of orthodontic appliance * history of systemic or joint disease * current use of analgesic, anti-inflammatory agent or muscle relaxant and currently undergoing physical therapy.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Mandibular range of motion	1 year	Mandibular range of motion(maximum active mouth opening, and right and left lateral excursion) was evaluated by a blinded examiner on two occasions (before and after treatment) using a digital caliper.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Electromyographic activity	1 year	Electromyographic activity in the masseter and anterior temporal muscles. The right and left masseter and anterior temporal muscles were analyzed with surface EMG.

Countries

Brazil

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 7, 2026