The Use Of Tens In The Diagnosis Of Mandibular Deviation

Objectives: Mandible lateral deviation diagnosis occurred by both clinical and instrumental evaluations lacking a view on neuromuscular dynamic.
Thus, the aim of this study was to test whether mandibular latero-deviation remains stable after the use of Ultra Low Frequency Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (ULF-TENS) in children.
Methods: 60 children aged between 8 and 13 years with mandibular lateral deviation were enrolled. Dental casts were mounted on articulator based on centric relation-maximum intercuspation. Than, ULF-TENS were applied for 5 minutes at "Jankelson motor threshold" . The new mandible position achived by ULF-TENS (neuromuscular position) was recorded. Discrepancies between centric relation and neuromuscular position were evaluated in millimiters.
Results: The alignment of the midline after TENS was not punctual (p>0.05). Compared with the existing intercuspidal position, neuromuscular registration showed improvement in 30 (50%) patients, 18 patients (30%) showed no changes, while worsening of the tooth-midline discrepancy was assessed in the remaining 12 (20%). The molar relationship did not follow the same trend of the midline because of the three-dimensional changes in the maxillo-mandibular relationship induced by TENS. After TENS there was a correlation between midline and right side deviation (r>0.65), there was no correlation between midline and the left side (r<0.65). The posterior areas of the arch were moving in a very unpredictable way, resulting in the diagnosis and prognosis of mandibular lateral deviation as absolutely individual and unpredictable.
Conclusions: ULF-TENS is able to identify mandibular rest position in childeren with mandibular deviation. These findings had to be interpretated cautiously.