Sir, fill some of the tongue's space with a lower lingual acrylic 'placebo' splint, and what happens?
The tongue moves upwards and outwards to cover the occlusal surface of the teeth. Hey Presto! You have the ultimate biological 'soft' occlusal splint, reduced parafunction and surprise, surprise, reduction in TMD symptoms.
I don't think that I am ready, just yet, to accept that occlusion is a relatively unimportant factor influencing recovery in the majority of TMD patients seen in practice.
