Impact of Jaw Functional Status on Neck Flexor Endurance among Females

Background: Opening and closing of the mouth, biting, and chewing are all sensory-motor tasks that require both jaw and neck muscles to be contracted simultaneously. The postural stability of healthy people can be modified by changes in the position of the jaw. Objective: To determine the impact of jaw functional status on neck flexor endurance among females and also to determine the association of neck flexion endurance with age and BMI. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study in which the convenient sampling technique was used. It included 32 healthy females between 18-25 years of age. The study was conducted at the skills Lab of Shalamar School of Allied Health Sciences, Lahore. After consent from participants the neck flexor endurance test was performed in two positions: with the resting jaw (position I), and the jaw clenched maximally (position II) in the supine position. Time was recorded by the stopwatch to see how long the participant was able to maintain in these positions. The same test was performed again with five minutes gap in both positions of the jaw. Results: It shows that there was a significant difference in neck holding time between the resting jaw position and clenched jaw position. After five minutes of rest the neck holding time in both positions was decreased but it was statistically not significant. There was weak and inverse relationship between neck flexion endurance and age (r=-0.0264) and weak but direct relationship between neck flexion endurance and BMI (r=0.283)    Conclusion: The neck holding time in the clenched jaw position is less than the resting jaw position; this shows that a sensory-motor relationship exists between the neck and jaw. Variation in jaw positioning impacts neck flexor endurance.