Sports performance adaptations through occlusal splint: Case reports of triathlon athletes

Objective: Occlusal disturbances affect human posture and sports performance. This study aimed to monitor biomechanical adaptations to personalized occlusal splints. Methods: Splints were customized based on stabilometry, thermography, sEMG, and kinesiography, and administered to three triathlon athletes. They were evaluated during a 4-month period, using isokinetic indexes, running kinematics and anaerobic outputs. Results: Individuality emerged as a key factor driving type, quantity, quality, and time trajectories of adaptations. The use of instrumental and clinical tests allowed the detection of static balance and biting function improvements, but not necessarily parallel to sports performance improvements. Conclusion: The authors argue that strength and kinematic imbalances are joint and task-specific and support the use of multi-stage monitoring of the biomechanical effect of mouthpieces. Kinematics of cycling and running may be widely assessed with ecological and inexpensive methods. Strength imbalances need to be continuously monitored due to the high informative value to injury prevention.