Does combining oro-facial manual therapy with bruxism neuroscience education affect pain and function in cases of awake bruxism? A pilot study.

Background: Although awake bruxism is associated with temporomandibular disorder (TMD) as well as head and neck pain, the effects of physical therapy and bruxism education to address these factors have not been investigated.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of oro-facial manual therapy and bruxism neuroscience education (BNE) on awake bruxism over a 3-week period with an open-ended follow-up questionnaire after 3 months.

Methods: Subjects (n = 28) were randomly allocated to one of two groups, an intervention group and a control group.