Immediate effects of a single session of stimulated occlusal imbalance and jaw clenching on balance and fall risk in patients with chronic stroke: a randomized controlled trial.
Ömer Dursun, Ahmet Burak Mavuş
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In 30 seconds
This single-blind, three-arm randomized controlled trial assessed the immediate effects of one session of ipsilesional or contralesional stimulated occlusal imbalance, or jaw clenching, in 60 patients with chronic stroke. Outcomes included postural stability, fall risk, and weight-bearing distribution. Jaw clenching improved the overall stability index within the group (p < .001, d = 2.32) and outperformed both occlusal-imbalance groups on this measure (p < .001 for each comparison). The occlusal-imbalance groups showed no significant within-group changes in the reported outcomes, although they differed in weight-bearing distribution.
Key findings
- Jaw clenching improved the overall stability index within the group (p < .001, d = 2.32).
- The jaw-clenching group improved more than Group I (p < .001, r = 0.85) and Group II (p < .001, r = 0.89) on overall stability index.
- Stimulated occlusal imbalance produced no significant within-group changes (p > .05, r = 0.00-0.38); the two groups differed only in weight-bearing distribution (p = .016, r = 0.38).
Why it matters
The findings suggest that a brief jaw-clenching task may produce immediate changes in postural stability in people with chronic stroke, whereas the tested occlusal-imbalance tasks did not show comparable within-group effects. This distinction may inform further evaluation of simple adjunctive tasks for balance outcomes, while the immediate assessment does not establish lasting benefit or reduced falls in daily life.
What to keep in mind
Outcomes were assessed immediately during a single session, so persistence of effects is unknown. Time since stroke onset differed between Group I and the other groups.