Insights to Migraine

Jaw clenching muscles of migraine suffers are 70% larger in volume and generate significantly higher bite forces than control subjects.  (muscles enlarge and strengthen resulting from habitual intense exercise) (1,2)

Migraine sufferers who experience headaches soon after or upon waking show significant evidence of nocturnal jaw clenching (3).

Pericranial tenderness (soreness of the muscles of the scalp upon palpation) is present in every migraine and tension-type headache sufferer, while absent in controls (4) .  (Pericranial tenderness results from over work of a muscle, i.e., jaw clenching during sleep)

Tension-type headache patients contract their temporalis muscles (clench their jaw) during sleep, on average, 14 times more intensely that asymptomatic controls (5).

Simple minimal voluntary jaw-clenching (of less than 30% of maximum effort) for 30 minutes (with two rest periods) still results in a headache for 63% of migraine sufferers (6) .  Jaw clenching during sleep can frequently exceed voluntary maximum (7) .

A traditional dental mouthpiece can allow for clenching intensity and resultant symptoms to perpetuate or intensify (8,9).

A device which prevents  molar and canine tooth contacts reduces clenching intensity to 1/3 of maximum (10).

The NTI-tss, which prevents molar and canine tooth contact while being worn during sleep, provides a 77% average reduction in migraine pain episodes for 82% of migraine sufferers (11).
(FDA approved for the prevention of medically diagnosed migraine pain)

1. ìMigraine and masticatory muscle volume, bite force, and craniofacial morphologyî  Headache 2001 Jan;41(1):49-56
2. ìMasseter and temporalis muscle EMG levels and bite force in migraineursî  Headache 2000 Nov-Dec;40(10):813-7
3. ìOcclusal abnormalities, pericranial muscle and joint tenderness and tooth wear in a group of migraine  patientsî.   J Oral Rehabil <18(5):453-8 1991 Sep
4. ìEvaluation of pericranial tenderness and oral function in patients with common migraine, muscle contraction   headache and 'combination headache'î.  Pain, 12(4):385-93 1982 Apr
5. ìWaking and Sleeping EMG Levels in Tension-type Headache Patientsî, J.Orofacial Pain, Vol.11,#4, ë97
6. ìExperimental toothclenching in common migraineî   Cephalalgia 5(4):245-51 1985 Dec
7. ìBruxing patterns in man during sleepî   J Oral Rehabil, 11(2):123-7 1984 Mar
8. "The temporal/masseter co-contraction: an electromyographic and clinical evaluation of short-term stabilization  splint therapy in myogenous CMD patients",  J Oral Rehabil ,22(5):387-9 1995 May
9. "Nocturnal electromyographic evaluation of myofascial pain dysfunction in patients undergoing occlusal splint  therapy.  J Am Dent Assoc, 99(4):607-11 1979 Oct
10. Effect of a prefabricated anterior bite stop on electromyographic activity of masticatory muscles.  J Prosthet Dent, 82(1):22-6 1999 Jul
11. ìMigraine and Tension Type Headache Reduction Through Pericranial Muscular Suppression:  A Preliminary Reportî Accepted for publication in CRANIO, summer 2001

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