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Altered neural activation pattern during teeth clenching in temporomandibular disorders
1Department of Orthodontics, State Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Oral Diseases
|February 26, 2016
Summary
Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) patients exhibit altered brain activity during teeth clenching. Treatment with a stabilization splint normalized these neural activations, suggesting a therapeutic mechanism for TMDs.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Medical Imaging
- Dentistry
Background:
- Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are complex conditions affecting jaw function.
- Neural mechanisms underlying TMDs, particularly during parafunctional activities like teeth clenching, require further elucidation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neural activation patterns in TMDs patients during teeth clenching before and after treatment.
- To compare brain activity between TMDs patients and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess brain activity during a teeth clenching task.
- Thirty TMDs patients and 20 controls participated; 11 TMDs patients underwent follow-up imaging after 3 months of stabilization splint therapy.
Main Results:
- TMDs patients displayed reduced positive and increased negative neural activations in specific brain regions (precentral gyrus, temporal gyrus, cerebellum, medial prefrontal cortex) during clenching.
- Following stabilization splint treatment, neural activity in these TMDs patients normalized.
- Post-treatment, TMDs patients showed no significant differences in brain activation compared to controls, except for increased right cerebellar activity.
Conclusions:
- Teeth clenching in TMDs patients is associated with altered motor and cognitive neural processing.
- Stabilization splint therapy effectively normalizes these aberrant neural activations.
- Findings contribute to understanding TMDs pathophysiology and the efficacy of splint therapy.
