Splints for craniomandibular dysfunction (CMD)
Splint therapy with occlusal splints is used in the majority of cases to treat dysfunctional diseases of the masticatory system. In addition, splints are also used to relieve the jaw joints in chronic degenerative or rheumatoid diseases. The term splint therapy has become established for this range of treatments.
Bruxism (teeth grinding or clenching): Anyone who catches themselves grinding or clenching their teeth every now and then, or who is asked about it by a trusted person, can take comfort in the fact that they are in good company. 30 to 70 percent of people today suffer from andysfunctional diseases of the masticatory system – diseases that have their origin in the non-functional use of the anatomical structures involved in the masticatory process. In short, we need our teeth, masticatory muscles and jaw joints for less than half an hour a day to actually eat. However, in our modern, stressful world, where we are constantly exposed to situations that require us to “grit our teeth,” we increasingly use our masticatory system as a “stress processing system” without the anatomy of our body having had time to adapt to this extra load.
Neither masticatory muscles nor jaw joints nor the teeth themselves are made for the prolonged tooth contact caused by sometimes hours of monotonous grinding movements or continuous clenching. Due to the additional strain on the masticatory system, tension in the head and neck area, cephalgia (headaches), temporomandibular joint pain, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and restricted movement of the lower jaw and more can occur.
In addition to physical measures, physiotherapy, manual therapy and stress management therapies, occlusal splints are valuable aids in the treatment of craniomandibular dysfunctions (Latin cranium: skull, mandibula: lower jaw; synonyms: CMD: craniomanibular dysfunction, craniomanibular disorders). The splints serve to relax the masticatory muscles as well as to decompress the temporomandibular joints and to relieve the teeth including their supporting apparatus. The aim of splint treatment is to reduce parafunctions such as bruxism (teeth grinding or clenching), to harmonize the interaction of temporomandibular joints and masticatory muscles, and to prevent non-physiological tooth contact. Discomfort and pain can be alleviated and, in the best case, completely eliminated.
Treatment with a bite splint as a reversible therapy can be followed by irreversible therapeutic measures such as grinding in sliding obstacles, rebuilding the occlusal relief or even orthodontic treatment.
Splints for snoring therapy
Splints in a broader sense are also the snoring therapy devices or “snoring splints”. Here, however, the dentures serve only as a “means to an end,” that is, to anchor the splint solely with the goal of creating an abutment to shift the lower jaw forward during sleep, thereby widening the upper airway.
The main services of splint therapy are presented below.