CLINICAL EFFECTIVENESS OF THE USE OF AN INDIVIDUAL PROGRAMMABLE BITE BLOCK FOR THE PREVENTION OF EXACERBATION OF SYMPTOMS OF MUSCULAR-ARTICULAR DYSFUNCTION

Relevance. One clinically significant yet insufficiently studied provoking factor is prolonged forced maximum mouth opening during dental treatment. Conventional bite-opening devices do not provide individualized mandibular positioning and do not allow dynamic adjustment of interocclusal distance during treatment. Objective. To evaluate the clinical efficacy of an individual programmable bite block during prolonged therapeutic dental treatment in terms of pain intensity, functional limitations, and treatment tolerance. Materials and methods. A prospective controlled clinical study included 20 patients with clinically confirmed masticatory muscle myalgia. The study design involved sequential comparison of two methods of dental arch separation during 120-minute treatment visits: a standard serial bite block and an individual programmable bite block. Pain intensity was assessed using the visual analogue scale, along with the number of pain episodes per visit, time distribution of pain episodes, post-procedural muscle pain, maximal mouth opening, electromyographic activity of masticatory muscles, treatment tolerance, and the number of forced treatment interruptions. Results. The individual programmable bite block significantly reduced the within-visit increase in pain. EMG amplitude of masticatory muscles at the end of treatment was 64.7 ±10.9 μV with the standard bite block and 49.2 ±8.6 μV with the individual programmable device. Integral EMG activity at Tend was 211.6 ±31.4 and 158.7 ±26.9 μV•s, respectively. Conclusion. The individual programmable bite block reduces the functional load on masticatory muscles and temporomandibular joint structures, decreases pain intensity during and after treatment, lowers the number of pain episodes, and improves tolerance of prolonged dental procedures.