10.59987/ads/2012.2.51-58
Aims. During competitions and training many professional athletes use to wear occlusal splints to improve their sports performance. However, notwithstanding some studies concluded that achieving a balanced cranial-occlusal system could bring to an improvement of sports performances, the results are still contrasting. Probably the gnathological postural treatment of athletes has greater influence on performance when the individual suffers of Temporomandibular Joint Disfunction (TMJ) or physio-postural pathologies owing to the consequent alteration of the “tonicpostural system”. This clinical case details a gnathological postural approach to a professional basketball player suffering from muscular problems related to the stomatognathic apparatus and a low back pain unresolved with the only physiotherapy, which limited her performance.
Methods. Force platform and T-Scan III appliances were used in order to check the postural and occlusal condition of the athlete and as an aid to clinical parameters in achieving a correct splint balance.
Results. After the treatment involving inserting an occlusal splint and physiotherapy sessions, the patient no longer complained of low back pain problems and the symptoms associated with the stomatognathic apparatus improved considerably. In particular, after the tests carried out on an isokinetic machine, a force increase related to the quadriceps muscles was detected when the patient was wearing the occlusal splint.
Conclusions. All athletes must however be analysed individually and carefully with clinical and instrumental analyses in order to consider the possible real effectiveness of an occlusal splint for improving postural structure and sports performance.
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Gnathological postural treatment in a professional basketball player: a case report and an overview of the role of dental occlusion on performance
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Gnathological postural treatment in a professional basketball player: a case report and an overview of the role of dental occlusion on performance
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                                                                                                  Case Report


Gnathological postural treatment in a professional
basketball player: a case report and an overview of the
role of dental occlusion on performance




                                                                                      li
                                                                                   na
Alberto Baldini , DDS, PhD1                              occlusal splint and physiotherapy sessions, the pa-
Alessandro Beraldi , DDS2                                tient no longer complained of low back pain prob-
Alessandro Nota, DDS1                                    lems and the symptoms associated with the sto-
Furio Danelon, MMD3                                      matognathic apparatus improved considerably. In




                                                                                io
Fabiana Ballanti, DDS1                                   particular, after the tests carried out on an isokinetic
Salvatore Longoni, DDS4                                  machine, a force increase related to the quadriceps
                                                         muscles was detected when the patient was wearing




                                                                             az
                                                         the occlusal splint.
1
  Department of Orthodontics, University of Rome         Conclusions. All athletes must however be analysed
“Tor Vergata”, Italy                                     individually and carefully with clinical and instru-
2
  Italian Sports Dentistry Association SIOS, Italy       mental analyses in order to consider the possible




                                                                 n
3
  Isokinetic Sports Medicine Section Milan, Italy        real effectiveness of an occlusal splint for improving
4
  Department of Neurosciences and Biomedical             postural structure and sports performance.




                                                              er
Technologies, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
                                                         Key words: posture, dental occlusion, bite force, oc-
                                                         clusal splint, sports performance, sports medicine.
Corresponding author:
Alberto Baldini, MD
Centro Medico Polispecialistico Baldini
Via S. Orsola, 5
                                                  nt     Introduction
                                                iI
24122 Bergamo, Italy                                     During competitions and training many professional
Phone: +39 035/691247                                    athletes wear occlusal splints to improve their sports
Fax: +39 035/694280                                      performance. In order to achieve the best possible per-
                                              on

E-mail: studiomedicobaldini@gmail.com                    formances, higher-level athletes must be able to adapt
                                                         totally to movements even when subject to particularly
                                                         harsh stress. They must have constant control of bal-
                                                         ance changes and the use of muscular force as well as
                                      i


Summary                                                  excellent coordination capacity.
                                   iz


                                                         An athlete’s motor control is very important as regards
Aims. During competitions and training many pro-         improving performance and depends on the visual, ves-
fessional athletes use to wear occlusal splints to im-   tibular, proprioceptive responses as well as reflexive and
                   Ed




prove their sports performance. However, notwith-        voluntary muscle responses (1, 2). It was observed that
standing some studies concluded that achieving a         professional dancers and gymnasts have better postural
balanced cranial-occlusal system could bring to an       control than normal subjects (3, 4).
improvement of sports performances, the results          Over the past years, scientific research and clinical evi-
are still contrasting.                                   dence highlighted an anato-functional and physio-path-
 IC




Probably the gnathological postural treatment of         ological connection between craniomandibular (CMD)
athletes has greater influence on performance when       and craniocervical dysfunctions, aggregating various
the individual suffers of Temporomandibular Joint        areas of the organism in a single “tonic-postural system”
Disfunction (TMJ) or physio-postural pathologies         (5- 7).
C




owing to the consequent alteration of the “tonic-        Notwithstanding some studies concluded that achieving
postural system”. This clinical case details a gna-      a balanced cranial-occlusal system could bring to an im-
thological postural approach to a professional bas-      provement of sports performances (8, 9, 10), the results
ketball player suffering from muscular problems          are still contrasting (11).
©




related to the stomatognathic apparatus and a low        Probably the gnathological postural treatment of athletes
back pain unresolved with the only physiotherapy,        has greater influence on performance when the individu-
which limited her performance.                           al suffers of TMJ or physio-postural pathologies owing to
Methods. Force platform and T-Scan III appliances        the consequent alteration of the “tonic-postural system”.
were used in order to check the postural and occlu-      This report is intended to be a presentation of a clinical
sal condition of the athlete and as an aid to clini-     approach regarding a professional basketball player.
cal parameters in achieving a correct splint balance.
Results. After the treatment involving inserting an


Annali di Stomatologia 2012; III (2): 51-58                                                                     51
A. Baldini et al.



Clinical case

The patient G.M., a 28-year-old professional female bas-
ketball player who played for the Italian national basket-
ball team and currently plays in a second division team,




                                                                                               li
had frequent low back pain complaints which occurred 1
or 2 times a month for 4 or 5 days, making training and




                                                                                            na
playing in matches impossible.
In the past the patient had suffered a minor trauma that
distorted her hip, however this did not require surgery.
The radiographic, physiological and orthopaedic analy-




                                                                                         io
ses showed no vertebral column structural disorder.
The medical staff of the basketball team, who failed in
healing the pain with physiotherapy, requested a gnatho-




                                                                                      az
logical postural analysis in order to consider the occlusal
system’s possible interference with the postural system.      Figure 2 - Lateral intra oral photograph (right).
The player underwent the gnathological postural exami-
nations normally carried out on athletes referred to our




                                                                       n
section: clinical stomatognathic apparatus analysis, pos-
tural static scoliometer and podoscope analysis, stabilo-




                                                                    er
metric postural analysis via force platform, and comput-
erised occlusion analysis.
Following a particular episode, the patient reported pain
caused by both spontaneous and provoked (palpations)

                                                 nt
muscular problems, at the right masseter muscle with
moderate frontal bilateral localized tension cephalea oc-
curring once or twice a week.
                                               iI
The athlete had a normally physiologically and sym-
metrically mouth opening with no functional limitation or
articular noise.
                                             on

The occlusal analysis showed bilateral crosses at 16/46
and 26/36 and crowns on 11, 21 and 22 (Figs. 1, 2, 3).
A static posture analysis was carried out on a scoliom-       Figure 3 - Lateral intra oral photograph (left).
eter showing slight asymmetry (Fig. 4).
                                   i


A posturometric analysis was carried out on a “Correkta
                                iz


Dl Medica” force platform: each recording lasted 51.2
sec, under the following conditions: mandibular rest po-
sition, with eyes opened and closed; mandibular posi-
                    Ed




tion of centric occlusion, with eyes opened and closed;
mandibular position with cotton rolls and eyes opened
and closed; the athlete underwent an additional test in
mandibular rest position with eyes closed and with ret-
roflexed head for evaluating cervical interference (12).
Cotton rolls 8 mm. thick and 37 mm. long were positioned
 IC
C
©




Figure 1 - Occlusal intra oral photograph.                    Figure 4 - Static postural evaluations of posture on scoliometer.


52                                                                                      Annali di Stomatologia 2012; III (2): 51-58
Gnathological postural treatment in a professional basketball player



on the mandibular teeth distal to the canines. Quiet con-              ity of the exam: a hand was placed under the foot of
ditions were maintained during the exam, and disturbing                the subject, lifting the foot until it reached the following
elements were eliminated. A force plate was placed in                  criteria using the markers painted on the surface of the
order to position subjects perpendicularly faced to the                platform:
wall at 150 cm. The subjects were required to remain as                - Feet angle of 30° following the principal red line.




                                                                                                     li
stable as possible, relaxed, with their arms hanging free              - Calcaneal tendon positioned in correspondence of the
beside their trunk, and facing the wall without concen-                length of the foot, expressed in French points and cen-




                                                                                                  na
trating on a precise point on it. Moreover, all the subjects           tered on the principal red line.
were asked to avoid alcohol, sport and conservative                    - Malleolus positioned in correspondence of the angled
therapies during the 24 h before the clinical recordings.              red line.
The standardized placement of the subjects on the force                - Second foot finger root projection correspondent to the




                                                                                               io
plate is fundamental to reduce the intersession variabil-              principal red line.
                                                                                    - Foot outline correspondent to the areas
                                                                                    drawn on the surface of the platform.




                                                                                            az
                                                                                    This showed anteriorization of posturometric
                                                                                    loads (Fig. 5), frequent finding in basketball
                                                                                    players since it seems their postural struc-
                                                                                    ture can prepare the system for a jump or




                                                                               n
                                                                                    sprint, however with slight torsion. In par-
                                                                                    ticular, the postural structure improved, be-




                                                                            er
                                                                                    coming more symmetrical when cottons rolls
                                                                                    were inserted in the patient’s mouth (thus
                                                                                    eliminating occlusal interferences) (Fig. 6).
                                                                                    The force platform analysis showed that the

                                                  nt                                postural system seemed perturbed when the
                                                                                    teeth were in contact (Fig. 7).
                                                                                    Romberg index (R.I.) and the cervical inter-
                                                iI
                                                                                    ference index (ICS) were calculated in order
                                                                                    to evaluate the cervical and ocular interfer-
                                                                                    ence on posture: not significant values as-
                                              on

                                                                                    sessed the absence of these kinds of inter-
                                                                                    ferences (12).
                                                                                    The computerised occlusion analysis was
                                                                                    carried out using the T-Scan III (Tek-Scan
                                      i


Figure 5 - Posturometry on force platform with accentuation of                      Boston, USA) a computerized system whose
                                   iz


the projection of the loads towards the front in centric occlusion.                 sensor, when inserted between the dental
                                                                                    arches and connected to software, allows
                                                                                    for the distribution of the masticatory forces
                   Ed




                                                                                    to be evaluated thoroughly (13, 14).
                                                                                    Thus, the T-Scan III sensor was inserted
                                                                                    between the athlete’s dental arches, mak-
                                                                                    ing three to four contacts between the dental
                                                                                    arches to verify the test’s repeatability, sys-
 IC




                                                                                    tem seemed to suggest the occlusal sys-
                                                                                    tem’s interference related to the left molar
                                                                                    sector, with the postural system (Fig. 8).
                                                                                    A stabilization splint, to be worn 15/16 hours
C




                                                                                    a day, including during training sessions and
                                                                                    matches, was fabricated for the athlete lower
                                                                                    arch, allowing for the unobstructed excursive
                                                                                    glides of the mandible in protrusive position
©




                                                                                    and laterality and occlusal balance in centric
                                                                                    position in order to achieve a better postural
                                                                                    balance which would had been able to con-
                                                                                    tribute in prevent the painful symptomatol-
                                                                                    ogy to be frequent and improving sport per-
                                                                                    formance.
                                                                                    The splint was designed in the laboratory by
                                                                                    mounting models of the upper and lower den-
Figure 6 - Posturometry on force platform with improvement of
postural position using cotton rolls.                                               tal arches to a semi-adjustable articulator.

Annali di Stomatologia 2012; III (2): 51-58                                                                                     53
A. Baldini et al.



                                                                                                            Figure 7 - Kinesiogram
                                                                                                            shows the perturbation
                                                                                                            of the postural system
                                                                                                            in centric occlusion.




                                                                                                   li
                                                                                                na
                                                                                             io
                                                                           n              az
                                                                        er
                                               nt
                                             iI
                                  i        on
                               iz
                    Ed
 IC




Figure 8 - T-Scan III shows the asymmetry of the occlusal loads.   Figure 9 - T-Scan III shows a balance of the occlusal loads wear-
                                                                   ing the occlusal splint.
C




Wax bite registration was then taken, seeking centric re-          return in the glenoid cavity (16, 17). Then the occlusal
lation with the Dawson’s bilateral manipulation, which is          splint was balanced using the computerized occlusion
a manual technique that allows the gnathologist to posi-           system evaluation and clearly improved the patient’s oc-
tion the mandible and its condyles in a recordable and             clusion.
©




modifiable position, studies in literature concluded this          With the insertion of the occlusal splint in the oral cavity,
technique to be trustworthy and reliable for recording the         the occlusal loads appeared more symmetrical and bal-
patient’s centric relation position (15).                          anced (Fig. 9).
The operator has to stand behind the patient and place             A posturometric analysis of the athlete was carried out us-
three fingers (first finger, middle finger, and ring finger)       ing a force platform (Correkta DL Medica, Milan Italy) when
under the horizontal branch of the mandible with the               he was wearing an occlusal splint inserted in the oral cavity
thumb firmly positioned on the chin and the little finger          resulting in better postural control with minor expenditure of
on the rear of the vertical branch of the mandible so the          energy; the centre of gravity appeared smaller and with a
operator can pull the mandible, allowing the condyles to           more homogeneous distribution (Fig. 10).

54                                                                                          Annali di Stomatologia 2012; III (2): 51-58
Gnathological postural treatment in a professional basketball player



                                                                                                               Figure 10 - Kinesio-
                                                                                                               gram with bite shows
                                                                                                               more homogeneous
                                                                                                               distribution of pos-
                                                                                                               tural loads.




                                                                                                     li
                                                                                                  na
                                                                                               io
                                                                               n            az
                                                                            er
                                                  nt
                                                iI
The gnathological treatment was joined with the physio-                quadriceps’ muscular efficiency of the custom fit instru-
therapy of the cervical and lumbar tract of the vertebral              mentally balanced splint compared to a semi-individual
column and after six months of wearing the splint and                  mouthguard (Powerguard Isasan) using an isokinetic
                                              on

doing physiotherapy, the patient no longer complained                  machine.
of episodes of low back pain or symptoms related to the                After 10 minutes of warming up via bicycle, walking and
stomatognathic apparatus.                                              leg muscle stretching exercises, the athlete underwent
In order to evaluate the effect of the splint on the mus-              a muscular test in the “Isokinetic” Sports Medicine De-
cular force also in areas distant from the stomatognathic              partment of Milan using an isokinetic machine (model
                                      i
                                   iz


apparatus the athlete underwent an isokinetic test wear-               REV9000, Technogym) in order to evaluate the concen-
ing the splint.                                                        tric force expressed during the extension and flexion
The aim of this report is also to evaluate the effect on               movements of the right and left knee joints with one 90°
                   Ed




                                                                       angle per second for 4 consecutive repetitions (Fig. 11).
                                                                       The parameters considered were peak of force (Nm)
                                                                       and work done (W).
                                                                       The analysis of the force was carried out in three differ-
                                                                       ent mandibular conditions: with teeth in contact, wear-
                                                                       ing the custom fit and instrumentally controlled occlusal
 IC




                                                                       splint and wearing a semi-individual adaptable mouth-
                                                                       guard (Powerguard Isasan, Italy).
                                                                       The results reported in the Tables (Table 1 and Table
                                                                       2) in the average range of values of the other members
C




                                                                       of her team, show an improvement of the performance
                                                                       analysed by the isokinetic machine both wearing the
                                                                       custom fit occlusal splint and the semi-individual mouth-
                                                                       guard compared with the “teeth in contact” condition.
©




                                                                       Discussion

                                                                       Different kinds of athletes (motorcycle racers, footballers,
                                                                       etc.) also wear occlusal splints during competitions in or-
                                                                       der to improve performance. Research and publications
                                                                       in medical and dentistry magazines assessed that oc-
Figure 11 - Isokinetic machine test.


Annali di Stomatologia 2012; III (2): 51-58                                                                                     55
A. Baldini et al.



                                                               M. Greenberg et al (19), who, in 1981, published a con-
                                                               trolled double-blind clinical study on the correlation be-
                                                               tween mandibular position and force of the upper part
                                                               of the body, based on the principle that increasing the
                                                               vertical dimension of occlusion with occlusal devices




                                                                                             li
                                                               seemed to be able to increase muscular force.
                                                               The authors studied a selected sample of 14 members of




                                                                                          na
                                                               a basketball team of the University of Pennsylvania who
                                                               were not involved in a strengthening program during the
                                                               observation period and with no evident TMJ problems.
                                                               Occlusal devices were constructed and applied to the




                                                                                       io
                                                               posterior mandibular sectors and a shoulder adduction
                                                               and abduction test was then carried out using an iso-
                                                               kinetic dynamometer capable of evaluating the intensity




                                                                                    az
                                                               of the muscular force. The athletes underwent a first
Table 1 - Isokinetic test results (Peak of Force).
                                                               session consisting of three series of five abductions
                                                               followed by another three series of adductions at a dis-
                                                               tance of three minutes and a second session consisting




                                                                       n
                                                               of the same exercises this time using the occlusal device
                                                               and the placebo.




                                                                    er
                                                               Having processed the data via ANOVA statistical analy-
                                                               sis (p < 0.05), no relevant differences were observed be-
                                                               tween the three conditions and consequently it appears
                                                               that any increase of the muscular force due to the use

                                                  nt           of the occlusal device is correlated to the placebo effect
                                                               rather than a direct relationship with the splint.
                                                               In 2000 P. Gangloff, J. Louis and P. Perrin implemented
                                                iI
                                                               a different type of protocol, evaluating the repercussions
                                                               dental occlusion has on postural control in a controlled
                                                               study (20) based on a test sample of 8 professional
                                              on

                                                               shooters compared with a study of the same number of
Table 2 - Isokinetic test results (Work).                      individuals with perfect oral health.
                                                               The protocol consists in using the force platform to re-
clusal factors can influence body posture and that con-        cord the variations of the center of foot pressure (CFP)
                                     i


sequently sports performances of professional and non-         in an interval of 20 seconds, showing the data with a
                                  iz


professional athletes can increase.                            statokinesiogram, and carrying out each test with and
This could be really important when the gnathological          without the visual component. Four mandibular positions
treatment could help the athlete to resolve frequent pain-     using occlusal splints were considered for both groups:
                    Ed




ful symptomatology that prevents him from having a cor-        maximum intercuspation, centric relation, lateral physi-
rect and continuous training program.                          ological occlusion and contralateral occlusion.
The results achieved in this clinical case presented show      The best results were achieved with the jaw positioned
how the gnathological postural protocol with the inser-        in centric relation. The statistically significant difference
tion of an intraoral device could bring to a reduction of      between the various mandibular positions confirmed a
 IC




the symptomatology related to both the lumbar system           relationship between occlusion and postural control and
and the stomatognathic apparatus and a consequent              the authors confirm this emerged as better sports per-
better postural control and improvement of the perfor-         formances for the professional shooters included in the
mance of quadriceps’ muscular force.                           study.
C




However, the conclusions of the different studies regard-      A study carried out by Ferrario et al. in 2001 (21) analysed
ing the matter are not unanimous.                              two groups of subjects, one group whose parameters of
In particular the studies which analyse the relationships      occlusion were in the norm and the other with recogni-
between occlusion and sports performance in sportsper-         sable alterations to the stomatognathic apparatus (one
©




sons mainly consider two aspects: the fact that correct        or more teeth missing, crossbite), in order to analyse the
occlusion or wearing splints increases the muscular            functional relationship between the stomatognathic ap-
force also in areas which are some distance from the oral      paratus and the muscles of other areas of the body and
cavity (18) and the fact that wearing a splint improves        between various occlusal conditions and neuromuscu-
postural balance and therefore as a consequence can            lar performance. 29 young men who regularly practised
prevent injuries and improve performance bringing to           one or more sports were examined and for each of these
very contrasting results.                                      subjects, six mandibular positions were considered: with
The first to carry out an significant study on the relation-   mouth open, without teeth in contact, with slight dental
ship between occlusion and sports performance were             contact, maximum intercuspation, maximum intercuspa-

56                                                                                    Annali di Stomatologia 2012; III (2): 51-58
Gnathological postural treatment in a professional basketball player



tion with two cotton rolls (10 mm thick) placed between                electromyography and kinesiographical tests using the
the posterior teeth, maximum intercuspation with only                  Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
one cotton roll placed at the right or left side of the pos-           technique. Using the OPTOJUMP™ equipment, the ath-
terior mandibular teeth. For each position the patient had             letes carried out two functional evaluation tests: coun-
to use the dominant limb to lift a load of weight previ-               termovement jump and stiffness jump. These tests were




                                                                                                      li
ously established on the basis of his build, for as long               both carried out in two different sessions (with and with-
a time as possible. In the two groups analysed all the                 out the splint) on just after the first wearing of the device




                                                                                                   na
subjects more or less carried out the test with the same               (T0, T1) and two months after its first wearing (T2, T3).
maximum weight but unexpectedly the group of subjects                  The data obtained were processed using the Analysis
with malocclusion were able to do the task for a longer                of variance ANOVA statistical analysis system and high-
time than those with normal occlusion.                                 lighted a statistically significant difference only between




                                                                                                io
Lai’s work (22) analysed the relationship between dental               T3 and T0 and between T3 and T2. This has led the au-
occlusion and physical performance via the Ergo-jump                   thors to conclude that the splint did not improve athletic
platform in order to highlight whether there are actually              performance, sustaining that the statistical differences




                                                                                             az
connections between occlusal correction and variations                 detected were due only to an improvement caused by
in sports performance.                                                 the players’ training. Literature thus does not paint a very
Two groups of patients who did not practise sports com-                clear picture of the role which dental occlusion can have
petitively were selected for this study: one group with                on the muscular force of areas which are distant from the




                                                                               n
cranial-cervical-facial disorders and condylar-meniscus                oral cavity since the performance required vary greatly
incoordination, initial clicking on opening the mouth,                 for each sport: in some sports which are considered sta-




                                                                            er
dental class I or II with occlusal instability and postural            tionary (shooting, for example), it appears fundamental
modifications related to occlusion, and a second group                 to have better postural balance thus all devices which
with no pathology or disorder. Following the gnathologi-               aim to improve stability would seem to improve perfor-
cal examination, a resin splint with canine guidance and               mance.

                                                  nt
occlusal contacts was inserted. This was intended to
correct malocclusion in the group of patients with pathol-
ogies/disorders, while in the others it provoked maloc-
                                                                       On the other hand, the evaluations carried out in active
                                                                       sports, in which various factors can interfere with the
                                                                       performances, appear more complicated.
                                                iI
clusion, inserting a greater thickness of around 2 mm at
the canine and the first right premolar.
The results showed the performance of the dysfunction-                 Conclusions
                                              on

al subjects to improve with the use of the splint. On the
other hand, the performance of the patients with no TMJ                In conclusion, it seems that, in this clinical case as dem-
pathology worsened with the occlusal corrections.                      onstrated in other scientific studies, it is really important
In 2008, Ebben et al. (23) noticed that during situations              for athletes to have good occlusal balance, in order to
                                      i


which require a particular muscular force or power it is               achieve a perfect postural balance which could bring
                                   iz


somewhat common for athletes to clench their teeth,                    greater results during competitions, prevent injuries, and
consequently developing facial and neck muscular ten-                  maybe also increase muscular force (25, 26).
sion, and to activate certain muscles also through a                   Gnathological treatment could be really important in
                   Ed




modified Valsalva manoeuvre, presumably in order to                    some individuals, as an aid to physiotherapy in heal-
achieve a potential ergonomic advantage. 14 male and                   ing frequent painful symptomatology that prevents the
female athletes were chosen for this study. During the                 athlete from having a correct and continuous training
test these subjects did a countermovement jump on a                    program, this could be the key of interpretation of the
force platform, which analysed the force developed in                  performance improvement assessed by this case report.
two conditions; rest position and maximum intercuspa-
 IC




                                                                       As stated in a revision of the literature (18), there is cur-
tion. In particular, the percentage of force developed dur-            rently no scientific evidence that a splint can improve
ing maximum intercuspation was 19.5 % greater than in                  sports performance owing to the low number or pub-
rest position.                                                         lished studies and their contrasting results.
C




M. Manfredi et al. published a controlled randomized ex-               All athletes must be individually and carefully analysed
periment (25) in 2009. The study analysed the relation-                with clinical and instrumental analyses and possibly
ship between occlusion and athletic performance using                  treated with reversible occlusal treatments in order to
a device similar (OPTOJUMP™) to the one used in the                    evaluate the real effectiveness of an occlusal splint in
©




previous study and based on a sample of 15 profession-                 improving postural structure and sports performance be-
al basketball players from the Italian “serie A” Benetton              cause literature does not provide a clear picture of the
Treviso team. The authors considered 2 groups, a sur-                  role which occlusion can have on sports performance.
vey group and a control group, composed respectively of
8 and 7 sportspersons not undergoing dental treatment
or affected by problems in other parts of the body which               References
could interfere with the postural system.
In order to identify the myocentric position useful for                 1. Isableu B, Ohlmann T, Cremieux J, Amblard B Selection of
the construction of the splint, the players underwent                      spatial frame of reference and postural control variability.


Annali di Stomatologia 2012; III (2): 51-58                                                                                         57
A. Baldini et al.



    Exp Brain Res 1997; 114(3):584-589.                           15. Hickman DM, Cramer R The effect of different condylar
 2. Johnston RB, Howard ME, Cawley PW, Losse GM Effect                positions on masticatory muscle electromyographic activ-
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 3. Golomer E, Cremieux J, Dupui P, Isableu B, Ohlmann T          16. Baldini A, Tecco A, Cioffi D, Rinaldi A, Longoni S Gnatho-




                                                                                                  li
    Visual contribution to self-induced body sway frequences          Postural Treatment in an Air Force Pilot. Aviat Space Envi-
    and visual perception of male professional dancers. Neu-          ron Med. 2012 83(5); 522-527.




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