EFFECTIVENESS OF THE MICHIGAN SPLINT IN REDUCING FUNCTIONAL CERVICAL DISTURBANCES - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY

There is controversial evidence for a functional link between the mast icatory apparatus and the cervical spine. The aim of this work was to perform a preliminary study to evaluate the effectiveness of the Michi gan splint for the treatment of functional cervical disturbances. Fort y patients with functional cervical disturbances were randomly organiz ed into test and control groups. The patients in each group were exami ned by a physiologist to ascertain the extent of functional changes, T he test group underwent splint therapy (Michigan type) during a two-mo nth period. The other patients were sent home and did not receive acti ve treatment. After two months, all patients were reassessed physiolog ically. Cervical pain and pain induced by epispinal or paraspinal pres sure were reduced to a statistically significant extent in the treated group, compared with those in the control group.