Examination of the relationship between parameters affecting functionality of pelvic floor and temporomandibular joint

. The aim of this study is primarily to examine the relationship between the pelvic floor and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in terms of dysfunction, muscle activation, mobility and pain, secondly it is to determine the mediating factors that cause the possible relationship. For these purposes, 60 volunteer women who met the inclusion criteria were examined in terms of pelvic floor, TMJ and mediating factors. Pelvic floor-specific evaluations included pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic floor muscle activation, sacroiliac joint mobility and pelvic pain; TMJ-specific evaluations included TMJ dysfunction, masseter muscle activation, TMJ range of motion, presence of clicks, and TMJ pain. For mediating factors, the strength of the muscles located on the deep frontal fascial chain and thought to be related, flexibility, presence of tender points and depressive symptom level were evaluated. As a result of the study, it was found that there was a weak positive relationship between the "Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory-6" and the "Jaw Function Limitation Scale-20" (p=0.024; r=0.291) and 46% of this relationship was due to the mediating effect of the depressive symptom level. Additionally, while there was a weak positive relationship between the resting average muscle activation value (MRC) of the pelvic floor and the MRC value of the left masseter muscle (p = 0.004; r = 0.364), no mediating factor was found to have an effect on this relationship. The results of our study show that TMJ dysfunction increases the level of POP-related discomfort through the mediating effect of the level of depressive symptoms, and increased activation of the masseter muscle during rest also increases the activation of pelvic floor during rest, without the effect of mediating factors. Our results show that it may be useful to examine the parameters affecting TMJ functionality in patients with pelvic floor dysfunction as a complement, thus shedding light on future studies.