A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN TEMPOROMAN-DIBULAR JOINT DISORDERS (TMDS) ALONE AND TMDS ASSOCIATED WITH BRUXISM

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to compare signs and symptoms in temporoman-dibular joint disorder (TMD) patients and TMD associated with bruxism patients. This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients attending dental clinics in King Saud Medical City with TMD. The patients were divided into two groups; the experimental group consisted of TMD patients associated with bruxism habits while the control group was the TMDs patients without bruxism. To standardize the clinical examination; four examiners were trained to examine the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and the muscles of mastication according to Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorder (RDC/TMD). This study measured pain in muscles of mastication and TMJ. Total of 80 patients participated in this study; (45% male & 55 % female). The age range was between 13 to 72 years with the mean age of 31 (SD 11.5) years. The present study has revealed that TMD patients felt more pain during palpation than TMD patients associated with bruxism in lateral and posterior discs (p=.026 and p=.000 respectively). Similarly, the pain during mouth opening (p=.001), chewing (p=001), yawning (p=.000) and talking (p=048) was more in TMD patients than TMD associated with bruxism. On the other hand, during palpation on temporalis muscles (P=0.235), TMD associated with bruxism group felt more pain than the TMD group. Therefore, it can be concluded that TMD showed much lower correlation with bruxism and, bruxism is more associated with myofascial pain.