Influence of dental occlusion on the athletic performance of young elite rowers: a pilot study

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to assess the influence of dental occlusion on body posture and the competitive performance of young elite rowers. METHOD: Dental occlusion disturbance devices were used to simulate dental malocclusions. We assessed the influence of malocclusion on the body balance, paravertebral muscle contraction symmetry, and muscular power of young elite rowers. A nonparametric permutation test for repeated measures ANOVA, a Cochran’s Q test for paired data and a paired Student’s t-test were used in order to statistically evaluate the influence of artificial occlus...