Hard Splint Vs Conservative Therapy for TMJ Pain Management

May 13, 2026 updated by: Ayesha Urooj, Khyber College of dentistry

Efficacy of Hard Splint Vs Conservative Therapy in the Pain Management of Temporomandibular Joint Disorders

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of a hard occlusal splint versus conservative therapy (using topical Ibuprofen gel and counseling) in the management of patients with temporomandibular (TMJ) joint disorders. The study aims to determine which treatment is more effective at reducing pain, measured by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), at 1 week and 4 weeks post therapy.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This randomized controlled trial will be conducted at the department of Prosthodontics, Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar. Patients diagnosed with TMJ disorders based on clinical examination will be randomly assigned to two groups.

GROUP A: Patients will receive a hard occlusal splint made of heat cure acrylic resin to be worn at night.

GROUP B: Patients will receive conservative therapy consisting of topical 5% Ibuprofen gel application three times daily and counseling regarding habit modification(soft diet ,avoiding wide mouth opening).

Pain intensity will be recorded for both groups at baseline , 1 week and 4 week followup visit using a 10cm Visual Analogue Scale. the data will be analyzed using SPSS version 22.0.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients diagnosed with TMJ disorders based on clinical examination. Patients willing to participate and provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient with a history of recent TMJ surgery or trauma. Patients with systemic joint diseases (e.g Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoporosis, Osteopetrosis, Osteomalacia).

Patients currently using other occlusal appliances or undergoing active orthodontic treatment.

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: Hard Oclussal Splint
Patients in this group will be provided with hard occlusal splint made of heat cure acrylic resin, to be worn at night for a duration of 6 months.
Device: Hard occlusal splint
A custom fabricated heat cure acrylic resin splint
Active Comparator: Conservative Therapy
Patients in this group will receive conservative management consisting of topical 5% Ibuprofen gel applied three times daily and counseling regarding habit modification (soft diet, avoiding wide mouth opening).
Other: Counseling and Habit Modification
Counseling regarding soft diet and avoidance of wide mouth opening.
Drug: Topical Ibuprofen gel
5% Ibuprofen gel applied three times daily over the affected TMJ area.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain Intensity
Time Frame: baseline, 1 week and 4 weeks
Pain will be assessed using a 10cm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), where 0 represents no pain and 10 represents worst possible pain.
baseline, 1 week and 4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Khyber College of dentistry

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)

May 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

November 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 1, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 7, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 13, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • DSG_2022_019_4037

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.

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