Additional Effect of Pain Neuroscience Education to Orofacial and Neck Exercises in Temporomandibular Disorders

University of Sao Paulo148 enrolled

Overview

The objective of this study will be to verify the additional effect of Pain Neuroscience Education program to orofacial manual therapy and orofacial and neck motor control exercises for pain intensity and disability and for the secondary outcomes pain self-efficacy, kinesiophobia, and overall perception of improvement in patients with Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD). This study will be a randomized clinical trial comprising a sample of 148 participants. Subjects will undergo a screening process to verify those presenting a diagnosis of painful TMD confirmed by the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC/TMD), between 18 and 55 years of both genders, and then the volunteers will be randomized into two groups (G1: Pain Neuroscience Education + Orofacial Manual Therapy/orofacial exercises/neck motor control exercises vs. G2: Orofacial Manual Therapy/orofacial exercises/neck motor control exercises). These volunteers will be recruited at the Dentistry Clinic of the University of São Paulo's School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto - University of São Paulo. The intervention will be administered twice a week for 6 weeks by a single therapist lasting 1 hour per session. The primary outcome will be pain intensity and disability and the secondary outcomes will be pain self-efficacy, kinesiophobia and overall perception of improvement. The participants will be assessed immediate after the last session and at one and three-month follow-ups.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Enrollment

148

Conditions

Temporomandibular Disorders

Interventions

Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE)OTHER

A power-point presentation with metaphors and animated videos will be employed. The PNE program will be held in 2 sessions of 30 minutes each. The intervention program will be divided into 17 thematic topics according to Explain Pain.

Orofacial Manual TherapyOTHER

A protocol of Orofacial Exercises and Manual Therapy will be adopted in the present study. The manual therapy techniques will be: Intraoral temporalis release, Intraoral medial and lateral pterygoid (origin) technique and Intraoral sphenopalatine ganglion technique.

Orofacial ExercisesOTHER

Two mandibular exercises: Mandibular body-condylar cross-pressure chewing technique and Post-isometric relaxation stretches-laterotrusion and opening. Each exercise will be executed 10 times per session for 10 seconds.

Neck Motor Control ExercisesOTHER

A protocol of neck motor control protocol will be adopted in our study. The exercises included bracing exercises (six hierarchical levels) in neurodevelopment stages for the cervical spine. Extremity range of motion exercises will be conducted while maintaining a stable spine at the specific positions. Also, cervical isometric exercises (five hierarchical levels) will be carried out directly forward, obliquely, toward right and left, and directly backward by maintaining a stable spine with elastic resistive bands. Finally, exercises also included functional training with elastic resistance and exercise balls on unstable surfaces (eight hierarchical levels). The criteria to progress in each exercise domain (bracing, isometric exercises or functional training) will be sustain the contraction for 10 seconds, 10 times.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 55 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * A diagnosis of painful TMD Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (RDC/TMD) * A history of orofacial pain at least three months prior to the study (TREEDE et al, 2015) * age ranging between 18 to 55 years, considering the greater prevalence of TMD associated with this age period. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with illiteracy, severe depression (medical diagnoses), clinical history of tumors in the craniofacial region, patients in the post dental surgery period or submitted to previous physical therapy in the past year or to any health/pain education strategy, pregnant women, infections, whiplash-associated disorders and with chronic degenerative inflammatory or neurologic disorders were excluded from this study. Patients will be instructed to not use pain relief medications during the intervention period of this trial and if any medication be used, participants will be encouraged to report.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in Pain intensity

The Numerical Pain Rating Scale will be used to assess pain intensity in this trial and consists in a sequence of numbers from 0 to 10, in which 0 represents "no pain" and 10 represents "worst pain imaginable".