Subjects with temporomandibular joint disc displacement do not feature any peculiar changes in body posture

Abstract

The presence of body posture changes among patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) has been a controversial topic in dentistry. Based on that, the aim of this study was to assess postural features of pain-free subjects with internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), viz. disc displacement, when compared to subjects with normal disc position. A total of 21 subjects with unilateral, pain-free TMJ disc displacement (DD) and 21 subjects without any TMD signs of symptoms were assessed for body posture changes by means of posturographic evaluation of several body segments and postural balance reactions through the centre of mass during jaw movements using a balance platform. Posturographic measurements showed the absence of any significant differences between the two groups in any of the outcome parameters. Similarly, all balance platform responses to mandibular movements were not different between groups. There are no significant differences in body posture between subjects with and without unilateral disc displacement in the temporomandibular joint. Such observations, indicating a well-preserved postural balance in the presence of TMJ internal derangement, put into serious question the potential influence of TMJ disorders on whole body posture and viceversa.

Systematic Review of the Correlation Between Temporomandibular Disorder and Body Posture

“…Their texts were analyzed to exclude protocols, articles with topics that deviated from our topic of interest (e.g., head and neck posture, TMJ surgery), single case studies, systematic literature reviews, and literature reviews. Finally, nine articles published after the year 2000 were selected to reflect recent research trends (Table 1 [4,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]; Fig. 1).…”

“…Concerning the first author's affiliated research institution, all studies (apart from that of Rocha et al [25]) were performed by researchers in Brazil, suggesting that most research on the association between TMD and body posture is being undertaken in Brazil. (Rocha et al were dental science researchers from universities in Portugal and Italy.…”

“…The remaining six articles (Munhoz et al [18], Ries & Bérzin [19], Munhoz & Marques [20], Saito et al [21], Souza et al [24], Rocha et al [25]) were case-control studies.…”

“…Munhoz & Marques [20] additionally classified patients' symptoms into mild, moderate, and severe using a questionnaire and the Helkimo index [26]. The RDC/TMD was used in seven studies [4,19,[21][22][23][24][25], while Saito et al [21] also performed diagnoses based on an interview for clinical symptoms and supplemental X-ray data.…”

“…Rocha et al [25] diagnosed disc displacement using RDC/TMD Axis Ⅰ and confirmed the displacement using magnetic resonance imaging. They only selected patients who had displacement and who displayed contralateral clicking for the TMD group.…”