Project Details
Projekt
Influence of the craniomandibular system on human posture control during dynamic balance tasks
Subject Area
Dentistry, Oral Surgery
Term
from 2019 to 2022
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 427937447
Epidemiological studies show a high comorbidity of dysfunctions in the jaw and face area with the musculoskeletal complaints. In the clinical settings of dentistry, orthopedics and physiotherapy the pathophysiological effects of the craniomandibular system (CMS) via the fascial-muscle-chains were shown to be able to cause whole-body disorders. Based on these findings, cost-intensive and maximally invasive therapy models are proposed.Neuroanatomical and neurophysiological studies indicate that there are functional connections of the CMS with the postural control system. The effects of biting activities were visible as an increased spinal excitability via the soleus H-reflex as well as a generally increased excitability of the motor control system. A number of studies showed that the biting activities may have a stabilizing effect on postural control under static conditions, a reduced variability of muscular co-contraction patterns as well as reduced fluctuations of the trunk and head in an upright position were also reported. In addition, there are studies indicating that patients with an insufficient dentition may have an increased risk of falling. However, to date there are no controlled studies investigating the potential effects of biting activities during dynamic balance tasks.Addressing this research deficit, the present follow-up proposal aims to enhance the interdisciplinary work of the two working groups from the DFG fund "Influence of the craniomandibular system the postural control of people in dynamic balance tasks”. This follow-up proposal focuses on two questions: (1) Does submaximal jaw clenching have acute positive effects on performance when solving a dynamic steady-state balance task? (2) Can submaximal jaw clenching training augment the training of a dynamic steady-state balance task and does this lead to transfer effects on a dynamic precision task? Against this background, the movements of the participants when solving a dynamic steady-state balance task and a dynamic precision task were measured on the kinematic and muscular levels and joint angles were reconstructed with a biomechanical multi-body model. To answer these two questions, the resulting time series are analyzed by use of up-to-date methods from the field of motor control (e.g. Uncontrolled-Manifold analysis).With this interdisciplinary research approach at the interface of dentistry and human movement science, dynamic balance tasks were examined for the first time in a structured manner in order to more comprehensively understand the effects of controlled motor activity of the CMS on postural control processes. The findings can help to critically question the pathophysiological trivial models and to examine application-related questions regarding the described effects of biting activities, e.g. for rehabilitation aspects.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
Co-Investigators
Privatdozent Dr. Daniel Hellmann; Dr. Steffen Ringhof
