Objectives To investigate the association between oral parafunctions, personality traits, anxiety and signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders in the adolescents. Methods Two hundred and seventy adolescents were examined clinically for the signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders. Participants completed questionnaires about demographic variables, medical history, symptoms of temporomandibular disorders, parafunctional oral habits, Minnesota Multibasic Personality Inventory, and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results Logistic regression analyses revealed that bruxism was associated with joint tenderness (Odds ratio (OR)=6.38, p < 0.01), joint noises (OR=6.02, p < 0.01) and masticatory muscle tenderness (OR=4.19, p < 0.05) to palpation. State anxiety showed increased risk of joint tenderness (OR=2.47, p < 0.05) and muscle tenderness (OR=3.25, p < 0.05) to palpation. Conclusion Within the limitations of this study, it was concluded that oral parafunctions, especially bruxism, state anxiety, depression and hysteria were associated with signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders in adolescents.

Background: We studied clinical signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders and radiological changes in the temporomandibular joint from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to patients with myofascial pain dysfunction of the temporomandibular system and control patients to evaluate clinical and radiological relationships. Methods: A cross‐sectional, controlled, clinical and radiological study was planned and 99 subjects (69 patients and 30 controls) were included in the study. Results: Twenty‐three patients with RA (69.7 per cent) had painful temporomandibular joint. Fifty‐five per cent had myofascial pain dysfunction according to the research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Nearly all of our patients with RA (93.9 per cent) had symptoms, and almost all of them had positive findings of TMD in high resolution computed tomography. Condylar head resorption, joint space narrowing and degeneration were statistically more prominent features in patients with rheumatoid arthritis compared with controls (p<0.05). The pain score on active palpation correlated with the number of the mandibular subchondral cysts on high resolution computed tomography (r=0.6, p<0.05). Conclusion: Although the myofascial pain of the temporomandibular system is an important cause of pain in rheumatoid arthritis, prospective controlled studies are needed to develop effective therapeutic strategies for these patients.