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. 2023 Dec;9(6):1180-1190.
doi: 10.1002/cre2.779. Epub 2023 Sep 7.

Effectiveness of intraoral splints in the treatment of migraine and tension-type headache: A systematic review

Olga Martínez-Álvarez  1 , Eduardo Wojtovicz  1 , Jose Luís De la Hoz  1 , Juan Mesa  1 , Susan Armijo-Olivo  2   3
Affiliations

Effectiveness of intraoral splints in the treatment of migraine and tension-type headache: A systematic review

Olga Martínez-Álvarez et al. Clin Exp Dent Res. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: The main objective of this systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of intraoral splints in treating migraine and tension-type headaches.

Material and methods: The article search was conducted within seven electronic databases (Medline, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL PLUS with full text, Cochrane Library Trials, Web of Science, and Scopus) with no date limits or language restrictions up to June 12, 2022. Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were set for article selection. At the same time as data extraction, each study's risk of bias (RoB) was evaluated using the Cochrane tool to assess their RoB. Subsequently, the Cochrane Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation was used to evaluate the certainty of the evidence.

Results: Four controlled clinical trials were included. These trials were heterogeneous in terms of (1) diagnosis, (2) design of the intraoral splints, and (3) tools for reporting the results, which made it difficult to compile the data as well as evaluate its quality. Trials reported a reduction in the frequency of headache and pain intensity when using intraoral splints; however, this therapy was not superior to medications.

Conclusions: The evidence is very low for the use of oral splints as a therapeutic alternative to medication in the treatment of migraine and/or tension-type headache.

Keywords: headache disorders; migraine disorders; splints; tension-type headache.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram. Flowchart reporting the number of articles identified in each database and subsequent manual search, with the different selection phases and reasons for excluding those not admitted. TTH, tension‐type headache.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Descriptive forest plot showing posttreatment changes between oral splints versus sham splints after 3 months in patients with migraine. CI, confidence interval; SD, standard deviation; Std, standard.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Descriptive forest plot showing posttreatment changes between oral splints versus other interventions after 3 months in patients with migraine. CI, confidence interval; SD, standard deviation; Std, standard.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Risk of bias (RoB) of included studies using the RoB‐2 tool. Reviewers' judgments about each item of risk of bias for each included study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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