AIM: To identify the relationship between anterior disc displacement and global posture (plantar arches, lower limbs, shoulder and pelvic girdle, vertebral spine, head and mandibles). Common signs and symptoms of anterior disc displacement were also identified. INTRODUCTION: Global posture deviations cause body adaptation and realignment, which may interfere with the organization and function of the temporomandibular joint. METHODS: Global posture evaluation was performed in a group of 10 female patients (20 to 30 years of age) with temporomandibular joint disc displacement and in a control group of 16 healthy female volunteers matched for age, weight and height. Anterior disc displacement signs, symptoms and the presence of parafunctional habits were also identified through interview. RESULTS: Patients with disc displacement showed a higher incidence of pain in the temporomandibular joint area, but there were no differences in parafunctional habits between the groups. In the disc displacement group, postural deviations were found in the pelvis (posterior rotation), lumbar spine (hyperlordosis), thoracic spine (rectification), head (deviation to the right) and mandibles (deviation to the left with open mouth). There were no differences in the longitudinal plantar arches between the groups. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest a close relationship between body posture and temporomandibular disorder, though it is not possible to determine whether postural deviations are the cause or the result of the disorder. Hence, postural evaluation could be an important component in the overall approach to providing accurate prevention and treatment in the management of patients with temporomandibular disorder.

Nowadays, the sport practice has been initiated precociously. These precocious beginning of competitive sports may result in changes on the young athletes' posture alignment, because the child's bone and muscle systems are still developing and these systems are more susceptible to stress and injuries. The purpose of this study was to verify the indoor soccer (Futsal) injuries and the changes of posture alignment in players between 9 to 16 years old. We examined the posture of 50 volunteers young futsal male players, volunteers, from a first division club team. These athletes were divided in two different groups: the group one (G1) was formed by those players who have suffered injuries related to Futsal; and group two (G2) was composed by athletes who did not have injuries related to futsal. First, the athletes or their parents answered a questionnaire about anthropometric characteristics of the subjects, player position, how long they have been practicing Futsal, how often they practiced Futsal and previous injuries related to Futsal practice. Then, we evaluated the postural alignment using an specific protocol to check the postural alterations. Both groups showed changes on the body alignment. The most common changes seen were in ankle and knee in both groups. The changes of the alignment in lumbar spine was more common in group 1. Considering injuries in group 1, the most common injury was in ankle (45.2% of all injuries) and the second most common injury was in knee (19% of all injuries). Considering the kind of injury, sprain and fracture/dislocate were the two most common (26.2% each one) and muscle injury comes in second with 21.4% of all kinds of injuries. We could discuss the relationship between the changes of posture alignment and sports injuries, once the changes of posture alignment result in stress in muscle and ligaments and it may result in injuries. We couldn't find a relationship between the cause and the consequence of these factors.