Exclusion criteria included:
Inflammation in the oral cavity that emerged as myospasm or preventive muscle contraction,
Earlier splint therapy—could affect the value of the amplitude in the EMG examination, among other variables throughout a signal acquisition procedure.
Pharmacotherapy (e.g., oral contraception, hormone replacement therapy, and antidepressants) – some hormones and their replacements are known to affect muscle tone and pain intensity;
Systemic diseases (e.g., rheumatic and metabolic diseases)—they can affect muscle tone and pain intensity and range of motion TMJ
Mental illness- they can affect muscle tone and pain intensity, both treated and untreated
Lack of stability in the masticatory organ motor system—this affects muscle tone and pain intensity and range of motion TMJ
Masticatory organ injury—can affect muscle tone and pain intensity and range of motion TMJ, usually due to myospasm/local myalgia/preventive co-contraction
Pregnancy – as trimester-dependent estrogen/progesterone and relaxine interplay may affect muscle tone and pain intensity,
Patients undergoing orthodontic treatment—can affect muscle tone and pain intensity and range of motion TMJ,
Other types of inflammation in the oral cavity (e.g., pulp inflammation or impacted molars) – which usually yield in protective co-contraction,
Fibromyalgia—can affect muscle tone, pain intensity and/ as well as range of motion in TMJ and cervical spine,
Other specific contraindications for use of physical treatments in the MT, e.g. cancer therapy, some older models of artificial pacemakers, etc.
CONSORT flowchart of the participants’ progress through the trial phases [35 (link)]
The research project was approved by the Bioethics Committee of the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin (no. KB – 0012/102/13). Information on the clinical trial registration is available at