Postural loads during walking after an imbalance of occlusion created with unilateral cotton rolls

In a sample of thirty Caucasian adult females (mean age 28.5 ± 4.5), asymptomatic for TMDs, when a cotton roll was positioned on the left or the right sides of dental arches, so causing a lateral shift of the mandible, the percentage of loading and the loading surface of the ipsi-lateral foot, left or right, were found to be significantly lower than in habitual occlusion (p < 0.05). Males were not included because of their different postural attitude respect to females. Further studies in a sample of males will be presented.This study showed that in health subjects without TMD's symptoms, an experimentally induced imbalance of the occlusion, obtained through an unilateral cotton roll, is associated to detectable alterations in the distribution of loading on feet surface, during walking.This study adds new data on a previous investigation, recently published, [1] in which it was showed, in a group of Caucasian adult females with TMD's symptoms, that the the interposition of two cotton rolls between dental arches causes an increase of the percentage of loading on feet during locomotion, that can not be observed in subjects without TMD's symptoms. However, this previous study does not clarify whether these types of correlations are proper of TMDs patients, or are detectable also in subjects without TMD's symptoms, that could have importance for a correct diagnosis of postural disorders.Now, we are able to add new data to these previous findings, about the changes in the loading on feet, during walking, in health subjects without TMD's symptoms.In this study, an imbalance of the occlusion was experimentally induced in agroup of health subjects without TMD's symptoms, through an unilateral cotton rollinterposed between the upper and the lower teeth, thus generating an asymmetric imbalance of the occlusion. The postural loading on feet during walking was then investigated.This protocol was performed after the first study [1] from the same authors, in which some correlatio