The appropriateness of using full-contact foot orthoses for hypertonicity of the masticatory muscles

Introduction. Hypertonicity of the masticatory muscles, or hypertonicity of the chewing muscles, is a pathological condition characterized by excessive and continuous muscle tension. Often, along with occlusal pathologies, the determining causes are postural imbalances such as asymmetries of the shoulders and scapulae, leg length discrepancy, other musculoskeletal disorders, psychological disorders, and visceral organ dysfunctions. The main direction in the treatment of hypertonicity of masticatory muscles is the normalization of muscular tone and pain relief. Treatments are usually carried out with the help of splints, trainers, shockwave therapy, reflex therapy, acupuncture, massage, osteopathy. Currently, foot orthoses are also starting to be implemented in comprehensive treatment; however, their impact on the masticatory muscles and integration into existing therapeutic protocols require scientific investigation. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using full-contact foot orthoses in the complex therapy of masticatory muscle hypertonicity. Materials and methods. A total of 20 patients were involved in the study, aged 30±3.4 years old on average. Preference was given to the ascending dysfunctions in the sequence. All the patients had hypertonicity of the masticatory muscles. The diagnosis of hypertonicity of the masticatory muscles was provided by means of electromyography (EMG). The diagnosis of foot pathology was performed using a podoscope. The treatment of foot pathology was carried out with foot orthoses using FormThotics technology. Results were tabulated for statistical analysis. The level of muscle tension in the masticatory muscles was examined before and after orthosis therapy using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for matched pairs. Results. The initial average muscle tension percentages were 21.00% on the right and 28.15% on the left for the temporal muscles, and 20.60% on the right and 24.30% on the left for the masticatory muscles prior to treatment. Following orthosis treatment, the mean muscle tension in the temporal muscles was 26.35% on the right side and 26.15% on the left side; while in the masticatory muscles it was 23.10% on the right side and 23.65% on the left side. Conclusion. Our results point to the normalization of the tone of masticatory muscles both temporal and masseter on the right and left sides following orthosis therapy. These results support a hypothesis that therapy for ascending musculoskeletal dysfunction leads to the stabilization of masticatory muscle tension, achieving symmetry in the tension of muscles on both sides of the maxillofacial system.