Resumen:
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the influence of cranio-cervical posture on the maximal mouth opening (MMO) and pressure pain threshold (PPT) in patients with myofascial temporomandibular pain disorders. Materials and Methods: A total of 29 patients (19 females and 10 males) with myofascial temporomandibular pain disorders, aged 19 to 59 years participated in the study (mean years +/- SD; 34.69 +/- 10.83 y). MMO and the PPT (on the right side) of patients in neutral, retracted, and forward head postures were measured. A 1-way repeated measures analysis of variance followed by 3 pair-wise comparisons were used to determine differences. Results: Comparisons indicated significant differences in PPT at 3 points within the trigeminal innervated musculature [masseter (M1 and M2) and anterior temporalis (T1)] among the 3 head postures [M1 (F = 117.78; P < 0.001), M2 (F = 129.04; P < 0.001), and T1 (F = 195.44; P < 0.001)]. There were also significant differences in MMO among the 3 head postures (F = 208.06; P < 0.001). The intrarater reliability on a given day-to-day basis was good with the interclass correlation coefficient ranging from 0.89 to 0.94 and 0.92 to 0.94 for PPT and MMO, resp...