The term "posture" has now become part of everyday language. However, it is not always attributed the same meaning: most often, posture refers to the position assumed in an upright stance, while at other times it refers to specific body positions, such as sitting at a desk in the office, lounging on the sofa in front of the television, or riding one's bicycle.
In reality, the concept of posture is very complex, and this complexity arises from the fact that, from a motor perspective, every living being must be able to adapt to the environment in which it finds itself in order to perform its static and dynamic activities to the best of its ability.
This adaptation requires the ability to perceive what is happening in the environment itself and, consequently, to adopt the most suitable positions for the situation and one's behavioral needs, each characterized by specific relationships between different body segments.
The concept of posture, therefore, does not refer to a static, rigid, and predominantly structural condition. Instead, it aligns with the broader concept of equilibrium understood as the "optimization" of the relationship between the individual and the surrounding environment, that is, the condition in which the individual assumes a posture or a series of ideal postures with respect to the environmental situation at that particular moment and for the planned motor programs.
From a biological standpoint, such an important function cannot be entrusted to a single organ or system but requires an entire system (the Tonic-Postural System), which is a set of communicating structures and processes responsible for:
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fighting against gravity
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opposing external forces
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situating us in the structured space-time that surrounds us
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allowing balance in movement, guiding it, and strengthening it.
To achieve this feat, the organism utilizes different resources:
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the organs that position us in relation to the surrounding environment (touch, sight, hearing)
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those that position the different parts of the body in relation to the whole, in a predetermined position (proprioception)
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the higher centers that integrate the strategy selectors, cognitive processes, and reprocess the data received from the two previous sources.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MASTICATORY APPARATUS IN POSTURE
In addition to the factors listed, an increasing number of scientific studies tend to analyze the role of the masticatory apparatus in achieving optimal postural balance.
The masticatory apparatus plays a role in numerous functions such as breathing, phonation, chewing, and swallowing. These are extremely complex functions and can, in various ways, influence overall bodily balance due to the anatomical and functional relationships with the structures responsible for posture control.
The fact that it is an apparatus of great complexity is evidenced by the fact that a third of all brain circuits dedicated to processing instructions for the periphery are utilized for managing these functions, which are all, in various ways, connected to the dental apparatus.
During chewing and swallowing, in fact, the mandible rises and seeks contact with the upper teeth. The resulting occlusion allows the tongue to develop its function and push saliva and/or food bolus towards the esophagus. This movement is repeated about 2000 times in 24 hours!
In the presence of poor occlusion (caused by dental problems, jaw conformation issues, or temporomandibular joint issues), each time we swallow, an alteration of the mandible's position occurs in the three planes of space, which in turn produces abnormal work of all the muscles connected to it, from those involved in chewing to the neck muscles.
The end effect consists of an imbalance in the position and movements of the skull, which, due to its significant relative mass and its specific relationships with the musculoskeletal apparatus, determine