Prevalence of Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction and Its Signs among the Partially Edentulous Patients in a Village of North Gujarat

Abstract

There is disagreement about the association between missing teeth and the presence of temporomandibular disorder (TMD).Aim: To investigate whether, the span of edentulousness, gender, number of quadrants involved, pathological migration and the type of kennedy's classification are related to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction signs. Materials and methods:Clinical examination of 250 patients (males 99 and females 151) was done among the age group of 35 to 45 years. The patients were partially edentulous for 6 months or more and did not wear any kind of prosthesis.Results: Among 250 subjects, females showed more TMJ dysfunction signs. Clicking sounds were present in 46.5%, mandibular deviation was present in 40% of individuals, TMJ tenderness was observed in 32% and masseter was involved in 32% of individual. Temporomandibular joint dysfunction signs in relation to pathologic migration of teeth show that clicking and mandibular deviation was present in 54.5 and 49.2% and among muscles masseter muscle tenderness 41.9% was more commonly present. Masseter muscle tenderness 64.1% was seen in individuals who were edentulous for more than 5 years. Conclusion:Females subjects had a significantly higher prevalence of TMJ dysfunction signs then male subjects. As the span and time of edentulousness, the number of missing teeth and the number of quadrant involved increased, the signs of dysfunction became more prevalent. Among the TMJ dysfunction signs deviation and clicking sound were most frequently observed. The masseter muscle was most commonly affected and demonstrated muscle tenderness.

Prevalence of temporomandibular joint disorders in a Mexican elderly group.

“…A higher prevalence was observed in the group of 60-69 years, agreeing with the results of Yekkalam et al 2 , Swiri et al 10 , Guarda-Nardini et al 15 , Peñón et al 16 , and Shet et al 21 . Each organism has the capacity to adapt itself to events that affect orthopedic stability.…”

“…Prevalence was similar among men and women, results that differs with most other studies 1,2,5,[7][8][9][10]13,14,16,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25] , except with the findings reported by Dallanora et al 12 in the Brazilian population. TMD distribution per group according to DC/TMD varies between studies: Manfredini1 observed a higher prevalence of group I TMD, Caselín et al 9 of group II, and Guarda-Nardini 15 of group III.…”

“…Therefore, the study of TMD in other age groups, such as the elderly population, is also very relevant 7,10,12,[15][16][17][18] . In addition, many studies suggest that TMD has a higher prevalence in women 1,2,5,[7][8][9][10]13,14,16,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25] , except in the study conducted by Dellanora et al 12 , in which no differences between both sexes were observed. Prevalence by type of TMD in each group, according to the diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders (DC/TMD), is also very variable.…”

“…Group I shows no difference with groups II and III 1,9,20 . With respect to the type of TMD, displacement with disc reduction is the most frequent disorder 1,11,14,[18][19][20] , followed by muscle disorders 16,19,20,21,26 , myofascial pain 9,11,[13][14][15]20 and arthralgia 14,20,26 .…”

“…They were observed only in women. Several studies 4,21,25 show that these disorders are more prevalent in females probably because of hormonal factors, morphological characteristics and emotional influences. Systemic conditions such as rheumatic diseases are also involved, but the main reason seems to be that the physical constitution of women makes them more elastic, resulting in hypermobility, which in turn makes them more vulnerable to TMD 29 .…”