Abstract
Excellent postural control is essential to improve the physical performance of athletes. Stability of the body during motor tasks depends on different physiological systems. The influence of dental occlusion on body balance has been widely investigated in the past few years. It has been suggested that this relationship is strengthened by disturbing environments for balance control (i.e., unstable platform, fatigue, development tasks.). Moreover, dental occlusion may influence the muscle tone of both masticatory and postural muscles, which are involved in the preservation of balance. Therefore, we attempted to determine whether (i) there are differences in dynamic balance assessed by the modified star excursion balance test between opposed dental occlusion conditions (dental contact: intercuspal position/no dental contact: cotton rolls mandibular position) and (ii) dental occlusion influences the biomechanical and viscoelastic properties of the masticatory and postural muscles assessed with MyotonPRO®. Thirty physically active subjects were recruited for the study. The main findings were the following: (i) the Star Excursion Balance Test composite score was significantly higher for measurements made in cotton rolls mandibular position (p < 0.001) and also in subjects showing a correct occlusion (p = 0.04), and (ii) the biomechanic and viscolelastic properties of selected muscles showed different trend according to the presence of malocclusal traits. It is concluded that dental occlusion conditioned both dynamic stability and the biomechanic and viscoelastic properties of the analyzed muscles.
Highlights
Postural control is a coordinative ability influencing the efficient competence of motor tasks in many essential daily activities from children to elderly (Horak, 2006; Stodden et al, 2008)
The effectiveness of the individual body balance ability will depend on both the complexity of the postural tasks developed and the capability of the subject’s postural control system, which involves many of the underlying physiological systems mentioned above
We investigated four parameters computed in real time by MyotonPRO R software: oscillation frequency, dynamic stiffness, and logarithmic decrement, and mechanical stress relaxation time (the time for the muscle to restore its initial shape after external force is removed (Schneider et al, 2015; Ko et al, 2018)
Summary
Postural control is a coordinative ability influencing the efficient competence of motor tasks in many essential daily activities from children to elderly (Horak, 2006; Stodden et al, 2008) It has been defined as the act of maintaining, achieving, or restoring a state of balance during any posture or activity (Pollock et al, 2000) and depends on different complex skills based on the interaction of dynamic sensorimotor processes (i.e., visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive systems) (Fitzpatrick and McCloskey, 1994). Dental Occlusion and Posture system (CNS) activation and are conditioned by mechanical myofascial tissue properties (Mense and Masi, 2010; Nair et al, 2016) Those muscle properties contribute importantly to maintain postural stability in balanced equilibrium position, such as the muscle stiffness contributes in the maintenance of body balance during quiet standing (Winter et al, 2001). The effectiveness of the individual body balance ability will depend on both the complexity of the postural tasks developed and the capability of the subject’s postural control system, which involves many of the underlying physiological systems mentioned above
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