Evaluation of primary headache associated with temporomandibular dysfunction in adolescents from Santos, SP, Brazil: an observational study

Abstract

[Purpose] Evaluate the association of primary headache and Temporomandibular Dysfunction in healthy adolescents from the Santos, SP, Brazil. [Participants and Methods] A total of 208 adolescents, aged 11 to 16 years old were randomly selected at the dentistry clinic at Universidade Metropolitana de Santos. For that, the Fonseca Anamnestic Index was applied, including information such as: limitation when opening the mouth and moving the jaw, headaches, pain in the temporomandibular joint, noises in the temporomandibular joint, and the habit of tightening or grinding the teeth. The data were submitted to descriptive statistical analysis and the χ2 test and Fisher’s exact test were used to evaluate the association of categorical variables. [Results] The results were 63% of male participants, and 61% of female participants had Temporomandibular Dysfunction. In both genders headache was associated with the presence of Temporomandibular Dysfunction, with 93 participants with light headache and 39 with moderate headache. [Conclusion] There was an association between headache and the presence of Temporomandibular Dysfunction, and the percentage of affected males was slightly higher among this association. In the sample of adolescents who presented Temporomandibular Dysfunction, moderate headache was the main reported symptom of both genders.

Temporomandibular Disorders among Dental Students in Pakistan: Assessment of Prevalence, Severity, and Associated Factors Based on Questionnaire

“…Fonseca's questionnaire with an anamnestic index was developed by Fonseca and is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring TMD [ 15 ]. The literature shows that the Fonseca instrument has been used in a wide variety of studies to collect TMD related information from different populations and has characteristics of multidimensional evaluation [ 10 , 16 , 17 ]. The questionnaire consists of 10 items that inquire regarding difficulty in opening mouth, problem in moving jaw to sides, muscle pain or fatigue on chewing, feeling headache, having neck pain and ear pain, noise from the temporomandibular joint on chewing or opening the mouth, grinding of teeth, problems with biting teeth together, and feeling nervous.…”