The Prevalence of Temporomandibular Disorders in War Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to assess the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders in Croatian war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to analyze the impact of the disease on mandibular function. One hundred eighty-two male subjects participated in the study. The examined group consisted of 94 subjects who had taken part in the war in Croatia and for whom PTSD had previously been diagnosed. Patients were compared with an age- and gender-matched group of subjects who had not taken part in the war and for whom PTSD was excluded by means of a psychiatric examination. The study used a clinical examination and standard questionnaire. Statistically significant differences were found in almost all measured parameters. With regard to restricted movements, overbite, and overjet, the differences obtained did not have clinical significance. The most significant differences were found in the parameters of pain. Headache was experienced by 63.83% of the subjects with PTSD, facial pain by 12.77%, and pain in the region of the jaw by 10.64%. Headache was the most intense pain, with an average intensity of 4.92 on a scale of 0 to 10. Pain on loading, temporomandibular joint clicking, and intrameatal tenderness were more prevalent in the PTSD group than in the healthy control group. The study supports the concept that PTSD patients are at increased risk for the development of temporomandibular disorder symptoms.

Temporomandibular joint health status in war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder

“…(226)[16] studied the prevalence of TMJ disorders in war veterans with PTSD and found that TMJ disorder is significantly higher in war veterans vs control group that did not have participant in war and PTSD that exactly same with the result of our study.…”

“…Previous studies reported high prevalence of signs and symptoms of TMDs[16] and temporomandibular joint[17] in war veterans who suffered from PTSD. Uhac et al .…”

Post-traumatic stress disorder and temporomandibular dysfunction: a review and clinical implications

“…From these, six meet the inclusion criteria [6][7][8][17][18][19] . One paper was excluded because it did not evaluate the relationship between TMD and PTSD 20 and five because they did not use diagnostic criteria validated for TMD, only evaluating signs and symptoms of dysfunction in the studied population [21][22][23][24][25] . The flowchart with the article selection process is shown in figure 1, and the information of the studies included in the review is shown in table 1.…”

Facial pain

“…В большинстве случаев важную роль играют психологические факторы [23]. Посттравматическое стрессовое расстройство повышает риск развития дисфункции ВНС [24]. У значительной ча-сти таких пациентов отмечается высокий уровень депрес-сии и соматизации [25].…”