REVIEW   

Minerva Stomatologica 2020 April;69(2):112-8

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4970.20.04350-2

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Dental occlusion and sport performance

Angela MILITI ¹, Marco CICCIÙ ¹, Sergio SAMBATARO ², Salvatore BOCCHIERI ², Gabriele CERVINO ¹, Rosa DE STEFANO ¹, Luca FIORILLO ¹ ✉

¹ Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy; ² Section of Orthodontics, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, interest has been given to the relationship between dental occlusion and athletes’ performance. A correct occlusion allows for a correct position of the mandible in space and could be reached by wearing a splint made by a dentist. Achieving this condition appears to be an advantage for all athletes, and especially for those who have TMJ dysfunction. The purpose of the study was to investigate the hypothesis and common belief that correcting the occlusion or the use of a splint could improve an athlete’s performance.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A search on electronic database has been performed and obtained 141 results; then, following the application of the inclusion criteria, only 11 articles were selected.
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: A good occlusion seems to be an advantage for the athletes.
CONCLUSIONS: The use of an occlusal splint should be evaluated in different sports, because the occlusion and TMJ conditions of the athletes are different and the efforts in which they are subjected could not be generalized because the sports have various rules and characteristics that involves the stomatognathic system differently.

KEY WORDS: Dental occlusion; Malocclusion; Sports; Splints; Occlusal splints; Dentistry