Usefulness of posture training for patients with temporomandibular disorders

BACKGROUND: Many practitioners have found that posture training has a positive impact on temporomandibular, or TMD, symptoms. The authors conducted a study to evaluate its effectiveness. METHODS: Sixty patients with TMD and a primary muscle disorder were randomized into two groups: one group received posture training and TMD self-management instructions while the control group received TMD self-management instructions only. Four weeks after the study began, the authors reexamined the subjects for changes in symptoms, pain-free opening and pressure algometer pain thresholds. In addition, pretreatment and posttreatment posture measurements were recorded for subjects in the treatment group. RESULTS: Statistically significant improvement was demonstrated by the modified symptom severity index, maximum pain-free opening and pressure algometer threshold measurements, as well as by the subjects' perceived TMD and neck symptoms. Subjects in the treatment group reported having experienced a mean reduction in TMD and neck symptoms of 41.9 and 38.2 percent, respectively, while subjects in the control group reported a mean reduction in these symptoms of 8.1 and 9.3 percent. Within the treatment group, the authors found significant correlations between improvements in TMD symptoms and improvements in neck symptoms (P < .005) as well as between TMD symptom improvement and the difference between head and shoulder posture measurements at the outset of treatment (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Posture training and TMD self-management instructions are significantly more effective than TMD self-management instructions alone for patients with TMD who have a primary muscle disorder. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Patients with TMD who hold their heads farther forward relative to the shoulders have a high probability of experiencing symptom improvement as a result of posture training and being provided with selfmanagement instructions.     

TMD Treatment Outcomes: A Statistical Assessment of the Effects of Psychological Variables

This study analyzes the degree to which pretreatment psychosocial factors (psychological dysfunctions and stress)effect outcome in 269 consecutive temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patients at the completion of treatment. Employing the TMJ Scale, a validated measure of TMD symptoms, it is found that pretreatment TMD pain and overall symptom levels (excluding internal derangement symptoms) are weakly but nevertheless, significantly related to pretreatment psychological dysfunction and stress. However, the latter appeared totally unrelated to four treatment outcome measures. Additionally, the data supports the hypothesis that both initial and post-treatment intrascapular symptoms (TMJ Scale, Joint Dysfunction sub-scale) are unrelated to psychosocial factors. Data from this study call into question the value of categorizing the TMD patients by means of psychosocial “profiling” and “dual-axis” classification methods proposed by some researchers.     

Chronic TM Disorder and Non-TM Disorder Pain: A Comparison of Behavioral and Psychological Characteristics

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether patients with chronic temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain manifest behavioral, experiential, and psychological characteristics similar to patients with other chronic pain illnesses. The Chronic Pain Battery^TM (CPB), a multidimensional assessment tool for chronic pain patients, was used to compare several important variables between 78 TM disorder (TMD) patients and 98 non-TMD chronic pain patients. The study found that chronic TMD patients had lower “usual” pain intensity and suffering levels, fewer vegetative symptoms associated with depression, higher pain tolerance, less impairment of activity, more hope about treatment outcome, lower health care system utilization, but higher reported stress levels than non-TMD chronic pain patients. The two groups manifested no significant differences in use of narcotics, sedatives, and sleeping pills; levels of depression, anxiety, somatization, hostility, or psychoticism; illness behavior reinforcement in their social surroundings; or ratings of problems with work, family, self-esteem, or suicidal impulses.

These findings suggest that chronic TMD pain patients (with a symptom duration of over six months) are behaviorally and psychologically similar to non-TMD chronic pain patients, but that they differ in their perceptions of their disorder, rendering them less handicapped by their problems. Psychological, social, and behavioral treatment methods useful for treating chronic pain syndrome may thus also be applied along with dental therapy for optimal treatment of TMD associated with chronic pain.     

Trauma in patients with temporomandibular disorders: frequency and treatment outcome

summary Controversy exists on the aetiological importance and the effect of jaw macrotrauma (fractures excluded) on the occurrence of temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD). The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence of jaw injury in TMD patients and to compare the severity of the symptoms, the clinical characteristics and the treatment outcome in TMD patients with or without a history of trauma to the head and neck region directly linked to the onset of symptoms. The study sample included 400 consecutive TMD clinical patients. In 24.5% of patients the onset of the pain and dysfunction could be linked directly to the trauma, mainly whiplash accidents. No significant differences could be found between the two groups in daily recurrent headache, dizziness, neck pain, joint crepitation and pain in the joints. Maximal mouth opening was less than 20 mm in 14.3% of patients with a history of trauma and in 4.1% of those without such a history. According to the Helkimo dysfunction index (DI), more trauma than non-trauma TMD patients belonged to the severe dysfunction groups (DI 4 and 5) at first examination. The outcome of a conservative treatment procedure (counselling, occlusal splint, physiotherapy, occasionally occlusal therapy and non-steroidal anti-inflammation drugs was not different between the two groups at the 1 year evaluation. The degree of maximal opening was similar: less than 20 mm in 3.7% and 2.2% in trauma and non-trauma patients respectively. Forty percent and 41% respectively were symptom free or had DI = 1. The results suggest that external trauma to the joint or to the jaw in general is an important initiating factor in the aetiology of TMD but also that the prognosis is favourable.     

Psychological Factors and Temporomandibular Outcomes

This study examines the effect of psychological dysfunction as an etiological factor in temporomandibular disorder (TMD). It employs a thoroughly validated psychometric measurement system, the TMJ Scale (Pain Resource Center, Inc., Durham, North Carolina), to determine the effects of pretreatment stress and psychological dysfunction upon presenting symptom levels. The study also addresses these parameters for the eventual treatment outcome. During the course of this study, 2,074 patients were evaluated. Seven hundred and fifty-four by Dr. Steed and 1,320 by Dr. Wexler. Both practices address essentially identical patient populations and focus special interest in craniofacial pain and the diagnosis and Phase I treatment of temporomandibular dysfunction. Of the patients in the study who were found to have clinically treatable temporomandibular disorders, 561 consecutive patients completed treatment and were deemed to have reached Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). The TMJ Scale was re-administered to this post-treatment population. This study summarized findings pertinent to the four primary issues: 1. pre-treatment psychological factors and stress, which seem to be moderately related to presenting pain levels and overall TMD levels (excepting joint function); 2. treatment outcomes which appeared to be unrelated to the initial psychosocial symptom severity; 3. physical symptoms outcomes and psychosocial outcomes which appeared to be significantly related and; 4. intracapsular symptom improvement which appeared to be unrelated to psychological functioning changes but mildly related to stress.     

Anterior repositioning appliance therapy for TMJ disorders: specific symptoms relieved and relationship to disk status on MRI

Forty-eight (48) consecutive patients seeking treatment in a referral based practice for complex chronic painful temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disease were enrolled in a prospective study to assess specific symptom relief from anterior repositioning appliance (ARA) therapy and the relationship between specific symptom relief and the status of the TMJ disk. Each patient was assessed on 86 symptoms based upon whether each symptom was present before treatment and absent, better, unchanged or worse after Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). The most common symptom was occipital cephalalgia (94%). The least common symptom was pain and burning of tongue (8%). A profile of a temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patient was developed. The typical TMD patient has cephalalgia, mainly in the occipital, temporal and frontal region, pain upon chewing food, pain upon opening and closing the mouth, TMJ pain, pain in the back of the neck and difficulty chewing food. Before treatment, patients with bilateral displaced disks had more symptoms than those with unilateral displaced disks and the opposite side normal. After MMI, the maximum benefit (percent of pretreatment symptoms relieved) was found in patients with normal or recaptured disks. The minimum occurred in patients whose disks did not recapture with therapy. ARA therapy improved or eliminated symptoms in all patients in the study.     

Self-reported temporomandibular disorder symptoms and severity of malocclusion in prospective orthognathic-surgical patients

Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the association between self-reported symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) and the severity of malocclusion in prospective orthognathic-surgical patients.

Material and methods: The subjects consisted of 50 consecutive patients (13 males and 37 females) referred to two university clinics for assessment of orthodontic-surgical treatment need. Data considering self-reported TMD symptoms were gathered using a semi-structured diary. At the first appointment, all patients rated the importance of treatment (on a scale of 1–10) and assessed self-perceived dental appearance using a VAS scale. The scale was anchored with photographs 1 and 10 from the Aesthetic Component (AC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). Study models were assessed by an experienced orthodontic specialist using the Peer Assessment Rating (PAR) index and the Index of Complexity, Outcome and Need (ICON). Association between the PAR and ICON scores and the number of reported symptoms was analyzed statistically.

Results: Seventy-one percent of patients reported experiencing TMD symptoms. The most prevalent symptoms were pain in the head and/or neck region and fatigue in the TMJ region. The number of symptoms was highest in the morning. Ninety percent of males and 86% of females rated the importance of treatment as high; males experiencing TMD symptoms tended to rate surgery as more important compared with males with no symptoms (p?=?0.056).

Conclusions: In this sample, the results cannot unambiguously confirm an association between self-reported symptoms of TMD and objectively defined severity of malocclusion.     

Differences in initial symptom scores between myogenous TMD patients with high and low temporomandibular opening index

The temporomandibular opening index (TOI) is a more useful measure of mandibular movement than linear mouth opening, since it is independent of age, gender, ramus length, and gonial angle. It is also useful when categorizing temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patients into diagnostic groups. Two subgroups of myogenous patients have been identified, one with a high and one with a low temporomandibular opening index. This study examined initial symptom severity in these two subgroups. Thirty-three (33) patients with a myogenous temporomandibular disorder were recruited. Twenty-six (26) were female and seven male. Eleven were found to be in the high temporomandibular opening index group and the remaining 22 in the low group. Symptom severity scores were determined prior to the start of treatment. Pain, joint sounds, headache, and neck pain were all rated by patients on a four-point verbal response scale. These symptom scores were compared between the two subgroups using the Wilcoxon two sample test. There appeared to be a significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.0025). TMD patients with high temporomandibular opening index appeared to have more severe signs and symptoms of TMD than patients with a low index.     

The longevity of temporomandibular disorder improvements after active treatment modalities

Of concern to practitioners and patients alike are the long-term results following temporomandibular disorder/craniofacial pain (TMD/CP) treatments. This paper examines 270 patients who underwent active TMD/CP treatment and had follow-up an average of 41 months after the termination of treatment when the patients had reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). Data show that, notwithstanding a mild degree of recrudescence, overall levels remain significantly lower than initial baseline symptoms, indicating a long-term benefit from active treatment. It could not be determined whether the recrudescent symptom levels were related to the conditions for which patients initially sought treatment or to new pathological states. Possible considerations for relapse may be the function of aging, musculoskeletal structural adaptation, resorting to parafunctional habits, and/or a change in psychosocial status. No significant differences were found between males and females regarding symptom levels and outcomes. Clinical experience suggests that TMD/CP symptoms do not resolve spontaneously and generally require active treatment. Unfortunately, most studies to date have largely measured symptom changes immediately (or very shortly) after the completion of treatment. This article, however, finds that the benefits of appropriate active TMD treatments remain long after treatment completion.     

Anamnestic index severity and signs and symptoms of TMD

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and to characterize the symptoms and clinical signs of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) related to each severity category of Fonseca's anamnestic index in a sample of Brazilian young adults (mean age 21.61+/-1.91 years, 87% females and 13% males), by the application of an anamnestic index proposed by Fonseca (1992) and by clinical examination considering mandibular range of motion and tenderness to palpation of stomatognathic system structures. A significant number of participants were classified with mild TMD (43.2%) and moderate TMD (34.8%). Pain frequency during mastication, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain, and TMJ sounds were shown to be good predictors of TMD severity. Neck pain, headache, difficulty during mouth opening and lateral deviation, and tenderness to palpation of masticatory sites and during protrusion accompanied the TMD severity but failed to demonstrate differences between moderate and severe groups, showing a poor ability to determine TMD severity progression. This study suggests that not only the frequency of signs and symptoms of TMD should be determined, but also symptom severity and its relationship to the presence of clinical signs in order to discriminate patients with real treatment needs in nonpatient samples.     

Temporomandibular disorder treatment outcomes: second report of a large-scale prospective clinical study

Longitudinal studies of outcomes for temporomandibular disorder (TMD) treatment are rarely done and even when conducted often suffer methodological weaknesses. These may include the lack of valid outcome measures for symptom changes. This second report of a long-term multi-site study of 2104 treated, 250 untreated, and 44 long-term treated TMD patients is part of a continuing effort to study TMD treatment efficacy in a very large patient population. A validated symptom measurement system, the TMJ Scale, assured a valid and uniform assessment of treatment outcomes across a large number of practices. Data indicate that untreated TMD patients do not improve spontaneously over time and that patients treated with a variety of active modalities achieve clinically and statistically significant levels of improvement with no evidence of symptom relapse after treatment completion. The use of anterior repositioning appliance therapy produced better results than flat plane splint therapy.     

Temporomandibular Disorder Treatment Outcomes: Second Report of a Large-Scale Prospective Clinical Study

Longitudinal studies of outcomes for temporomandibular disorder (TMD) treatment are rarely done and even when conducted often suffer methodological weaknesses. These may include the lack of valid outcome measures for symptom changes. This second report of a long-term multi-site study of 2104 treated, 250 untreated, and 44 long-term treated TMD patients is part of a continuing effort to study TMD treatment efficacy in a very large patient population. A validated symptom measurement system, the TMJ Scale, assured a valid and uniform assessment of treatment outcomes across a large number of practices. Data indicate that untreated TMD patients do not improve spontaneously over time and that patients treated with a variety of active modalities achieve clinically and statistically significant levels of improvement with no evidence of symptom relapse after treatment completion. The use of anterior repositioning appliance therapy produced better results than flat plane splint therapy.     

Anamnestic Index Severity and Signs and Symptoms of TMD

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and to characterize the symptoms and clinical signs of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) related to each severity category of Fonseca’s anamnestic index in a sample of Brazilian young adults (mean age 21.61±1.91 years, 87% females and 13% males), by the application of an anamnestic index proposed by Fonseca (1992) and by clinical examination considering mandibular range of motion and tenderness to palpation of stomatognathic system structures. A significant number of participants were classified with mild TMD (43.2%) and moderate TMD (34.8%). Pain frequency during mastication, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain, and TMJ sounds were shown to be good predictors of TMD severity. Neck pain, headache, difficulty during mouth opening and lateral deviation, and tenderness to palpation of masticatory sites and during protrusion accompanied the TMD severity but failed to demonstrate differences between moderate and severe groups, showing a poor ability to determine TMD severity progression. This study suggests that not only the frequency of signs and symptoms of TMD should be determined, but also symptom severity and its relationship to the presence of clinical signs in order to discriminate patients with real treatment needs in nonpatient samples.     

错矫治治疗颞下颌关节紊乱病临床疗效分析

目的 分析并评价矫治错(牙合)同时治疗颞下颌关节紊乱病(TMD)的临床效果。方法 采用直丝弓技术矫治各种错(牙合)畸形伴TMD患者42例,详细记录治疗前、治疗6个月、治疗结束、治疗结束后2年的牙(牙合)情况及TMD症状、体征变化、颞下颌关节(TMJ)X线片情况。结果 30例患者TMD症状及体征基本痊愈,占71.4％;好转7例,占16.7％;无效或加重5例,占11.9％。结论 错(牙合)畸形伴TMD的年轻患者经正畸矫治可以恢复咬合或作(牙合)重建,建立(牙合)平衡,使颞下颌关节、下颌回复到正常解剖位置。但已经发生器质性损害或TMJ解剖结构不对称的患者,治疗效果有待于进一步观察。     

A model for predicting chronic TMD: practical application in clinical settings

BACKGROUND: Substantial cost is associated with the treatment of chronic temporomandibular disorders, or TMDs, and patients with TMDs often experience significant psychosocial distress. Early intervention based on identified risk factors has potential financial and functional benefits. METHODS: Two hundred four patients with acute TMD were evaluated via an assessment battery that included physical, psychological and social measures. All participants were diagnosed as having TMD on the basis of the research diagnostic criteria for TMD, Axis I. At the six-month follow-up assessment, patients were considered to have chronic TMD if they continued to have TMD pain. This resulted in 144 of the patients being classified in the chronic group and 60 being classified in the nonchronic group. RESULTS: A comparison of the acute TMD data demonstrated that the group that went on to develop chronic TMD and the group that did not differed significantly in their scores on numerous biopsychosocial indexes. Although several biopsychosocial measures were found to differentiate these two groups before the onset of chronic TMD, logistic regression analysis demonstrated that a two-variable predictive model consisting of the presence of a muscle disorder and characteristic pain intensity (that is, the mean of these three ratings: patient's report of current pain, worst pain in the last three months and mean pain in the last three months) accurately classified 91 percent of the subjects who went on to develop chronic TMD. CONCLUSIONS: During the acute phase of TMD, two variables allowed for an accurate prediction rate of 91 percent among patients who went on to develop chronic TMD. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: This model provides clinicians with the opportunity to identify at-risk patients early and initiate adjunctive or alternative treatments, thus reducing the likelihood of the development of TMD chronicity.     

Role of psychosocial factors on treatment outcome of temporomandibular disorders

Objectives: The aim of this randomized controlled study was to investigate the effect of depressive and non-specific physical symptoms on treatment outcome of temporomandibular disorders (TMD).

Material and methods: Eighty TMD patients were randomly assigned to splint group (n?=?39) and control group (n?=?41). The patients were classified in terms of depressive and non-specific physical symptoms as normal, moderate or severe using Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders Axis II protocol. The effect of depressive and non-specific physical symptoms on the intensity of facial pain, as measured with visual analogue scale (VAS) was estimated with linear mixed models. The patients’ subjective estimates of the effects of treatment and TMD symptom severity were inquired at 1-year follow-up.

Results: At baseline and during the follow-up there were no significant differences in VAS scores between patients in different Axis II subscales. According to the mixed linear regression, depressiveness or nonspecific physical symptoms separately were not significantly associated with the VAS during the study. The association of VAS with depressive (p?=?.073) and nonspecific physical symptoms (p?=?.088) approximated statistical significance. Patients with moderate or severe nonspecific physical symptoms (with pain items) at baseline had more frequently moderate, severe or intolerable TMD symptoms after the treatment compared to those who were classified in normal subgroup.

Conclusions: The present study gave some indication of a possible negative effect of depressive and nonspecific physical symptoms (with pain items) on TMD treatment response. However, the results should be regarded as preliminary, and further studies with larger sample size are needed to confirm the results.     

颞下颌关节病的颈部伴随症状及其治疗的临床研究

目的：调查颞下颌关节病的颈背部伴随症状的临床发生情况及特性，探讨其治疗方法及疗效。方法：随机调查100例患者颈部伴随症状的发生情况。并和无关节病症状的对照组进行比较，对颞下颌关节病患者进行常规治疗，对有颈部症状的患者侧重进行修复，He垫和综合治疗并对治疗效果进行评价。结果：颞下颌关节病患者中伴随颈部症状的患者比例高于对照组，另外，前者的下颌偏斜比例及咬合异常比例均高于对照组，患者组中有明显咬合异常或下颌位不稳定的人，治疗开始一年后显效或有效率较高，而对有原发性椎病的人和可能伴有其它心理精神因素的人疗效较差。结论：颞下颌关节病和颈部状有一定的关联，下颌位置改变有可能引起部关节及肌系统的改变，进而影响颈部功能。     

An orthodontic study of temporomandibular joint disorders. Part 1: Epidemiological research in Japanese 6-18 year olds.

Malocclusion is considered one of the etiological factors of temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of TMD and the relationship between TMD and the type of occlusion. The sample consisted of 7337 Japanese children, 6-18 years old, 3219 boys and 4118 girls. TMD symptoms were recorded as well as the type of occlusion in children with TMD. The prevalence of TMD overall was 12.2%. The prevalence increased with age and was slightly higher in girls (13%) than in boys 11.1%. This difference was not statistically significant. Joint sound as the only symptom was more common in younger subjects. TMD symptoms seemed more complicated with age when pain and abnormal jaw movement combined with sound. Joint sound was the most common symptom (89.3%), followed by the combination of sound and pain (2.2%). The incidence of other symptoms was under 1%. In subjects with TMD, 24.9% exhibited crowding, 20.1% had excessive overjet, 6.8% deep bite, 6.3% edge-to-edge bite, 5.6% anterior crossbite, 5.4% open bite, and 3.8% posterior crossbite. Morphologically normal occlusion was observed in 27.1%. In this study, many subjects with TMD had malocclusions. Early treatment may be important in the prevention of severe TMD. Although those with morphologically normal occlusions were included, a more detailed study concerning other causes of TMD is needed also.     

Subjective reactions to intervention with artificial interferences in subjects with and without a history of temporomandibular disorders

In a previous double-blind randomized controlled study, subjects with a history of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) reacted to artificial interference with more signs of TMD than did subjects with no TMD history. In the present study, we analysed the subjective reactions of these individuals on several symptom scales. Every day during the 2-week follow-up period, the subjects rated the intensity of their symptoms on 9 VAS scales (occlusal discomfort, chewing difficulties, tender teeth, fatigue in the jaws, headache, facial pain, opening difficulty, bruxism, ear symptoms). Subjects with a history of TMD and true interferences reported stronger symptoms than subjects with no TMD history and placebo interferences. The most prominent symptoms were occlusal discomfort and chewing difficulties. The difference in outcome between the groups with and without a TMD history suggests that there are individual differences in vulnerability to occlusal interferences. It is likely that the etiological role of occlusal interferences in TMD has not been correctly addressed in previous studies on artificial interferences.     

Temporomandibular dysfunction in 1,516 patients before and after orthognathic surgery

Functional disturbances, together with esthetic considerations, are important reasons for patients to seek orthognathic surgical treatment. Functional disorders may include signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD), such as joint pain, chewing problems, joint noises, headaches, etc. This paper reports on TMD before and after orthognathic surgery in 1,516 patients. It is based upon the patients' own evaluations as recorded 2 years after surgery. Preoperatively 43% and postoperatively 28% of the patients reported subjective symptoms of TMD. This difference indicates an overall beneficial effect of orthognathic surgery on TMD signs and symptoms. Patients with mandibular retrognathia did not improve as much as patients with mandibular prognathia. Sagittal ramus osteotomy was less effective than vertical ramus osteotomy in relieving TMD symptoms when performed on similar diagnoses.