Occupation as a potential contributing factor for temporomandibular disorders, bruxism, and cervical muscle pain: a controlled comparative study

Abstract

The aim of the study was to compare the prevalence of cervical muscle pain (CMP) and myogenic temporomandibular disorders (MFP) among female dentists, high-tech workers, and a group of subjects employed in other occupations; to investigate the associations among CMP, MFP, and bruxism in those groups; and to evaluate the influence of work-related stress on MFP and CMP. Evaluation was based on clinical examinations of MFP and CMP and self-reported questionnaires concerning pain and stress. The diagnosis of sleep bruxism was adapted using the validated diagnostic criteria of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD-2), 2005, Westchester, IL), whilst the diagnosis of awake bruxism was made on the basis of a questionnaire. The odds of a subject with MFP experiencing concurrent CMP or bruxism (sleep and/or awake) ranged from 2.603 to 3.077. These results suggest that high-tech workers and dentists are at greater risk for developing temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) and CMP when compared with general occupation workers, as defined in this study. Furthermore, the associations shown here between TMDs and CMP highlight the importance of palpating neck musculature as part of any routine examination of TMD.

Association between Stress at Work and Temporomandibular Disorders: A Systematic Review

“…Four studies were excluded because they did not allow an association analysis between TMD/signs/symptoms and stress. Finally, 12 studies were included in the systematic review (Figure 1) [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50].…”

“…The narrative synthesis showed that six studies found a positive association between stress and the diagnosis of TMD [ 39 , 40 , 43 , 46 , 47 , 49 ]. The highest association strength was an OR = 6.03, 95% CI 2.51–15.33 [ 43 ].…”

“…The highest association strength was an OR = 6.03, 95% CI 2.51–15.33 [ 43 ]. However, among these studies, only 2 used validated scales for stress [ 43 , 49 ], 3 used nonvalid scales [ 40 , 46 , 47 ], and one study [ 39 ] was not clear as the scale used for stress. Concerning the TMD, 4 used validated scales [ 40 , 43 , 47 , 49 ], and 2 did not [ 39 , 46 ].…”

“…BioMed Research International [39], myofascial pain [40], and TMD pain [41], joined, in this review, the broad category of "TMD diagnosis." In other words, they gather a generic "TMD diagnosis" entity appropriate for epidemiologic studies-in opposition to old-fashioned approaches, assessing punctual temporomandibular signs and symptoms, grouped into distinct "signs/symptoms" category for purposes of this review [45,57].…”

“…Due to the significant heterogeneity among studies, different types of workers assessed, various diagnosis tools for DTM/stress, and distinct statistical methods, a narrative synthesis was performed instead of a meta-analysis to evaluate the association between stress at work and TMD. From the 12 studies, 11 presented the diagnosis of TMD [39][40][41][42][43][44][46][47][48][49][50], and 1 evaluated only the signs and symptoms of TMD [45]. Two manuscripts evaluated both diagnosis and signs and symptoms of TMD (Table 1) [41,50].…”