Abstract
ObjectivesTo evaluate the effect of a chewing exercise on pain intensity and pressurepain threshold in patients with myofascial pain.MethodsTwenty-nine consecutive women diagnosed with myofascial pain (MFP) according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria comprised the experimental group and 15 healthy age-matched female were used as controls. Subjects were asked to chew a gum stick for 9 min and to stay at rest for another 9 min afterwards. Pain intensity was rated on a visual analog scale (VAS) every 3 min. At 0, 9 and 18 min, the pressure-pain threshold (PPT) was measured bilaterally on the masseter and the anterior, medium, and posterior temporalis muscles.ResultsPatients with myofascial pain reported increase (76%) and no change (24%) on the pain intensity measured with the VAS. A reduction of the PPT at all muscular sites after the exercise and a non-significant recovery after rest were also observed.ConclusionThe following conclusions can be drawn: 1. there are at least two subtypes of patients with myofascial pain that respond differently to experimental chewing; 2. the chewing protocol had an adequate discriminative ability in distinguishing patients with myofascial pain from healthy controls.
Highlights
Pain in the masticatory muscles is the most prevalent symptom associated with temporomandibular disorders (TMD), being present in 88.7% of the affected population6
Different types of muscle hyperactivity have been associated with muscle pain, among those bruxism, as well as extensive voluntary repeated maximum contractions, innate weakness in the strength of a muscle accentuated by repeated maximum contractions and continuous use of the muscle18
Control group had no pain on the visual analog scale (VAS); 45.07±6.55 mm of mean active mouth opening; and a mean number of sensitive palpation sites of PP 7KH PRVW SURPLQHQW ¿QGLQJV ZHUH
Summary
Pain in the masticatory muscles is the most prevalent symptom associated with temporomandibular disorders (TMD), being present in 88.7% of the affected population. Function impairment is experienced by TMD patients, including reduced chewing ability. Et al. (2001) found a positive correlation between chewing ability and TMJ pain and reduced mouth opening FDSDFLW\ DOWKRXJK QR VLJQL¿FDQW DVVRFLDWLRQ ZDV found for noises and muscle tenderness. Lobbezoo-Scholte, et al. (1993) studied the validity of six tests to discriminate patients from control subjects and found that passive opening measurement and palpation were the most useful for this purpose. Lund and Lavigne (1994) and Gavish, et al. (2002) concluded that pain can be either increased, decreased or unaltered when assessed the discriminative power of an experimental chewing test in patients with myofascial pain (MFP).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
