Core Stability and Hand Function in Dental Students (CORE-DENT Tria)

April 6, 2026 updated by: Akın Süzer, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University

Effects of Core Stability Exercises on Core Endurance, Handgrip Strength, Pinch Grip Strength, and Manual Dexterity in Dental Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate whether a core stability exercise program can improve core endurance, hand grip strength, pinch strength, and manual dexterity in dental students. The study will include adult dental students who are enrolled at a university and do not have any musculoskeletal or neurological conditions.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does a 6-week core stability exercise program improve core endurance in dental students? Does the exercise program improve hand grip strength, pinch strength, and manual dexterity compared to usual daily activities?

Researchers will compare a core stability exercise group to a control group to determine whether the exercise program is more effective than routine daily activities.

Participants will:

Be randomly assigned to either an exercise group or a control group Participate in a supervised core stability exercise program three times per week for 6 weeks (exercise group only) Continue their usual daily activities without additional exercise (control group) Undergo assessments of core endurance, hand grip strength, pinch strength, and manual dexterity before and after the intervention period

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

44

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Students enrolled in the Faculty of Dentistry at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University
  • Aged 18 years or older
  • Right-hand dominant
  • No diagnosed musculoskeletal, chronic systemic, or neurological disorder
  • No regular exercise habits
  • Able to understand and follow study instructions
  • Able to speak and understand Turkish
  • Willing to participate voluntarily and provide informed consen

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of spinal or upper extremity injury or surgery
  • Presence of disc pathology or cervical spine disorders
  • Severe pain affecting upper extremity function
  • Any acute injury occurring during the study period that may affect performance
  • Inability to complete assessments
  • Withdrawal from the study for any reason

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Core Stability Exercise Group
Participants in this group will receive a supervised core stability exercise program for 6 weeks, performed three times per week. Each session will last approximately 30-45 minutes, including warm-up, core stabilization exercises, and cool-down phases. All sessions will be conducted under the supervision of a physiotherapist.
Behavioral: Core Stability Exercise Program

A structured and progressive core stability exercise program will be conducted over 6 weeks, with three supervised sessions per week. Each session will last 30-45 minutes and include warm-up, core stabilization exercises, and cool-down.

The program consists of three progressive phases: Weeks 1-2 focus on core activation and static exercises on a stable surface (e.g., abdominal draw-in, bridge, plank); Weeks 3-4 include dynamic exercises on a stable surface (e.g., bird-dog, curl-up, superman); Weeks 5-6 involve resistance and unstable surface training (e.g., Swiss ball exercises, rotational movements, resisted exercises).

All sessions will be supervised by a physiotherapist. Exercise intensity and progression will be individualized based on participant performance, and safety will be monitored throughout.
No Intervention: Control Group
Participants in this group will not receive any structured exercise program and will be instructed to continue their usual daily activities. They will be asked not to initiate any new exercise programs during the study period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Core Endurance
Time Frame: Baseline and after 6 weeks
Core endurance will be assessed using the McGill core endurance test battery, including trunk flexor endurance, trunk extensor endurance, and side bridge tests. The duration (in seconds) that participants can maintain each position will be recorded.
Baseline and after 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hand Grip Strength
Time Frame: Baseline and after 6 weeks
Hand grip strength will be measured using a hydraulic hand dynamometer. Three measurements will be taken for each participant, and the average value will be used for analysis.
Baseline and after 6 weeks
Pinch Strength
Time Frame: Baseline and after 6 weeks
Pinch strength will be measured using a pinch meter, including tip-to-tip, lateral (key pinch), and palmar (three-point pinch) grip types. Three measurements will be taken and averaged.
Baseline and after 6 weeks
Manual Dexterity
Time Frame: Baseline and after 6 weeks
Manual dexterity will be assessed using the Purdue Pegboard Test, including dominant hand, non-dominant hand, both hands, and assembly tasks. Scores will be recorded as the number of items completed within specified time periods.
Baseline and after 6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

April 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 6, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ErsoyU5112025

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Manual Dexterity

Clinical Trials on Core Stability Exercise Program

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Australia

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe