Evaluation of different occlusal splints and counselling in the management of myofascial pain dysfunction

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of different occlusal splints associated with counselling and self-care in the management of signs and symptoms of myofascial pain. In a double-blind controlled clinical trial, 42 myofascial pain patients with chief complaint of pain in the masseter muscle area were randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 experimental groups: hard (HS), soft (SS) or non-occluding (NS) occlusal splints. The Modified Symptom Severity Index (Mod-SSI) and tenderness to palpation were used as outcome measures during a 90-day follow-up. All patients improved over time and all splints offered the benefit. The results showed that all the three different appliances (HS, SS, and NS) associated with counselling were able to equally reduce the Mod-SSI (symptoms-Tukey test) and digital palpation (signed Kruskal-Wallis) test between baseline and 90 days.