Assessment of clinical parameters and patient satisfaction submitted to rehabilitation with total joint prostheses of temporomandibular joint

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical efficacy of temporomandibular alloplastic prosthesis for full reconstruction of the temporomandibular joint. The total sample was 44 patients, including 17 men and 27 women. Clinical parameters such as deviation and limitation of mouth opening and facial asymmetry, and subjective criteria such as headache, difficulty chewing, local pain and the degree of patient satisfaction postoperatively were used. The mean of the follow up was approximately 5 years. It was observed that the mouth opening postoperatively was higher than that of preoperative showing an average increase of 14.6 ± 8.04 mm. Similarly, the measure of laterality and protrusion also increased significantly postoperatively. Reports of snap, crackle, headache, facial asymmetry and mainly local pain significantly decreased (Fisher exact test, p <0.05) after surgery. It was observed that 33 (75%) subjects had improvement in both chewing and socializing, and 37 (84.1%) showed improvement in chewing and 40 (90.9%) showed improvement in social life. The results of this research showed that studied the prosthesis is an effective and predictable option for full reconstruction of the TMJ.