Clinical signs of craniomandibular disorder, the mobility of the cervical spine, and neck-shoulder muscle tenderness were assessed or measured in a nonpatient sample of 57 and a patient sample of 76 subjects. Examinations performed after a 1-year interval showed that the frequency of signs of craniomandibular disorder had remained virtually unchanged. The functional state of the stomatognathic system was significantly associated with both mobility of the cervical spine and neck-shoulder muscle tenderness.
To analyse the effect of treatment of mandibular dysfunction on headache, 35 patients with migraine, 20 patients with combination headache and 36 patients with muscle contraction headache were studied in a clinical double-blind trial. Patients in the treatment group received occlusal adjustment and those in the placebo group mock occlusal adjustment. After eight months and four months, respectively, the neurologist evaluated the treatment outcome. The frequency of headache was reduced in 79% and the intensity in 53% of patients suffering from muscle contraction headache or combination headache in whom the adjustment of the dental occlusion had been successfully accomplished. The difference from the placebo group was statistically significant. The decrease in headache frequency as calculated from the headache diaries correlated with the decrease in the index of clinical signs of mandibular dysfunction.
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