Effectiveness of a cervical treatment in wind-instrument musicians with temporomandibular dysfunction: A randomized clinical trial

Aims

To compare the effectiveness of a combined treatment involving manual therapy and postural exercises in wind musicians with temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD). Methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted among a sample of TMD-affected wind-instrument musician students (NCT05893251), who were assigned to an experimental group (EG) or a control group (CG). Both groups underwent an active cervical postural treatment for 4 weeks, with the experimental group (EG) additionally receiving a cervical therapy protocol. Participants were assessed through the craniofacial pain and disability inventory (CF-PDI) test and maximum mouth opening (MMO).

Results

The treatment administered to the experimental group (EG) demonstrated higher efficacy compared to the control group (CG) in terms of MMO and CF-PDI scores (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

A therapeutic program including manual therapy at a cervical level and a program of active postural exercises results to be more effective than solely performing postural exercises on wind musicians with DTM.