Clinical Research Directory

The pain intensity of the participants will be assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale, which is a simple, reliable and short-term method commonly used to measure pain intensity in the clinic. The participant is told that the most severe pain he/she experiences is 10 and if there is no pain, the pain intensity is 0. The participant will be asked to tick a number between 0 and 10 corresponding to the intensity of pain felt in the masticatory muscles at rest and during chewing.

All participants included in the study will undergo a 5-minute test with the Polar H10 chest strap device for autonomic nervous system activity assessment (heart rate variability assessment). The data obtained after the measurement will be analysed with Kubios software. Stress index (cardiovascular system stress), PNS index (parasympathetic nervous system dominance), SNS index (sympathetic nervous system dominance), LF power (sympathetic activity), HF power (parasympathetic activity) and LF/HF ratio (sympathetic/parasympathetic balance) parameters will be used in the evaluation of HRV in Kubios programme.

The Myoton PRO device will be used to objectively assess the biomechanical properties of the participants' masticatory muscles such as tone, stiffness and elasticity. The masseter and temporalis muscles will be evaluated bilaterally in the sitting position. Three measurements will be recorded at one second intervals and the average value will be used for analysis.