The concepts prevalence, need for treatment, and prevention of temporomandibular disorders: A suggestion for terminology

Abstract

The concepts active and passive treatment need and active and passive prevention need are suggested, to systematize some concepts used in discussions about temporomandibular disorders (TMD), to separate the treatment need figures from the prevalence figures, and to understand the great variation among TMD prevalence studies. On the basis of a summary of recently published papers and on a clinical 2-year follow-up study of 411 subjects, the suggestions seem to provide a reasonably good fit with clinical experience and earlier epidemiologic studies of TMD.

Secondary Otalgia in an Adult Population

“…A more detailed description of the sample and clinical examinations has been published previously. 4 After clinical examination, subjects were interviewed using standardized questions for symptoms related to TMD. One question was asked about whether otalgia, defined as pain in or around the ear that was not associated with infections or otitis, had occurred during the last month.…”

“…5 The reliability and validity of the Symptoms of Stress Inventory and its use as a screening instrument have been shown in both American and Finnish studies. [6][7][8] For treatment need analyses of TMDs, the classification system by Kuttila et al 4 was used. The classification was based on anamnestic data, clinical and radiologic findings, and clinician's judgment.…”

“…The subjects and participation of the study group have been discussed in detail previously. 4 The study population was as healthy as Finns in general. The reported prevalences of general disease and recurrent neck pain were in line with the studies by Aromaa et al, 9 Mäkelä et al, 10 and Takala et al 11 The prevalence of recurrent headache in our study was lower than that reported by Honkasalo et al 12 and Sillanpää, 13 and the prevalence of recurrent shoulder pain in our study was higher than reported by Takala et al 11 and Mäkelä et al 14 However, in Swedish studies by Ekberg et al 15 and Westerling and Jonsson, 16 prevalences of shoulder symptoms were much more in line with our study.…”

Occlusal Interferences: How Can This Concept Influence The Clinical Practice?

“…Several studies have evaluated the role of occlusal interferences on the etiology of temporomandibular joint disorders. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Nevertheless, there is no consensus on the importance of such a theme for the development of TMJ dysfunctions. The greater limitation on obtaining an appropriate explanation for the role of occlusal adjustment on the etiology of TMDs is the number of variables associated with such dysfunction, which renders difficult the studies' standardization and the consequent discussion of their results.…”

Evaluación del estado de salud bucodental y su relación con estilos de vida saludables en la provincia de Salamanca

“…daños al realizar tratamientos a nivel dentario rutinarios, los cuales son responsables de interferencias que causan posteriormente alteraciones en la ATM (118).…”