| Summary: | ABSTRACT Background: Neck pain may influence jaw motor function. If so it would add to a growing body of evidence indicating the need for a more multidisciplinary care of affected patients. The aim of this systematic review was to review the current literature on this subject. Methods: A systematic literature search of the PubMed, Cochrane and Web of Science databases was carried out on September 20th, 2017. Included were studies with jaw motor function measurements, human participants ≥ 16 years old, with unspecified or experimental neck pain and without temporomandibular disorder (TMD) or tooth pain. Results: Of the 1701 initially identified articles, 32 were assessed in full text by two reviewers. Out of seven eligible articles, six were included after a risk of bias assessment. Two studies were contradictory on the effect of neck pain on maximal mouth opening. For maximal voluntary jaw clenching by individuals with/without neck pain, two studies showed no significant difference in force produced, and one study no significant difference in masseter muscle activity. One study showed a facilitated masseter stretch reflex in patients with neck pain. Conclusion: This systematic review shows how unexplored this field of research still is with a limited number of studies available. No firm conclusions could be drawn. Based on the included studies, neck pain seems to affect the jaw stretch reflex, but not the ability of the jaw muscles to produce force. Further research is warranted in the field of how neck pain may influence jaw motor function.
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