Temporomandibular Disorders and Hormones in Women

Abstract

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are loosely defined as an assorted set of clinical conditions, characterized by pain and dysfunction of the masticatory system. Pain in the masticatory muscles, in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), and in associated hard and soft tissues, limitation in jaw function, and sounds in the TMJ are common symptoms. That women make up the majority of patients treated for TMD is extensively hypothesized and documented in numerous epidemiological studies. Certain contradictory studies exist which propose that there are no statistically significant gender differences in the actual incidence of changes in joint morphology. Nonetheless, extensive literature suggests the disorder is 1.5–2 times more prevalent in women than in men, and that 80% of patients treated for TMD are women. The severity of symptoms is also related to the age of the patients. Pain onset tends to occur after puberty, and peaks in the reproductive years, with the highest prevalence occurring in women aged 20–40, and the lowest among children, adolescents, and the elderly. The gender and age distribution of TMD suggests a possible link between its pathogenesis and the female hormonal axis. In this review, we will use the hypothesis that the overwhelming majority of patients treated for temporomandibular disorders are women and use the available literature to examine the role of hormones in TMD.

A quantitative analysis of splint therapy of displaced temporomandibular joint disc

“…Also, TMD occurs more commonly in women (75-80%) than in men, which was confirmed in this study. The reason for this very high sex difference is unknown; probable reasons could be: biological and physiological, behavioural, and genetic differences (Warren and Fried, 2001). There are some musculoskeletal disorders with females outnumbering males, like fibromyalgia (Plesh and Gansky, 2006).…”

Expression of estrogen receptor α (ERα) in the rat temporomandibular joint

“…Several epidemiological studies have reported that TMD is more prevalent in women than in men (Campbell et al, 1993;LeResche, 1997;Kapila and Xie, 1998), which suggests the involvement of sex hormones, such as estrogen, in the pathogenesis of this disease. Although estrogen is known to play important roles in the etiology of postmenopausal osteoarthrosis or rheumatoid arthritis in systemic joints (Ushiyama et al, 1995;Khalkhali-Ellis et al, 2000), little information has been available regarding the relationship between estrogen and the etiology of TMD (for review, see Warren and Fried, 2001).…”

Temporomandibuler Eklem Disfonksiyon Sendromlu Hastalarda Klinik ve Psikopatolojik Özellikler

“…(29) ülkemizde yaptıkları prevalans çalışmasında TMEDS'nin kadınlarda daha fazla görüldüğünü bulmuştur. Kadın oranının yüksekliği, hormonal, psikolojik ve ergonomik nedenlerle açıklanmaya çalışıldığı gibi, kadınların daha fazla tedavi arayışında olmasına da bağlı olabilir (30). Çalışmamızda hastaların yaş ortalaması ve kadın erkek oranı üç farklı alt tanı grubuna göre bakıldığında farklılık göstermemektedir.…”