The Prevalence of Temporomandibular Joint and Muscle Disorders in African Americans

Abstract

Temporomandibular joint and muscle disorder (TMJMD) prevalence studies have predominantly evaluated the U.S. general population, for which Caucasians make up the majority of the subjects. With the growing levels of minority populations in the United States, it is important to estimate the prevalence of TMJMD in African Americans, relative to the U.S. general population. Therefore, we administered a survey regarding acute jaw pain symptoms to a sample of 274 participants. The results revealed a TMJMD prevalence of 22.3% for all participants, 25.3% for women, 16% for men (X2(1, n = 158) = 7.097, p = .008). TMJMD prevalence in African Americans was 22%, while that for Caucasians was 22.5% (X2(1, n = 118) = .039, p = .843). Most importantly, there were differences in the distribution of the 21 TMJMD symptoms of our survey between African Americans and Caucasians. Thus, even though TMJMD prevalence rates between African Americans and Caucasians were different but not significant, there were significant differences in some of the 21 TMJMD symptoms, suggesting that researchers and clinicians may want to consider evaluating these racial group differences in developing the most effective treatment plans for them.

Prevalence of temporomandibular joint disorders in a Mexican elderly group.

“…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.…”

“…According to what was observed in the study population, the prevalence of TMD was higher than that reported by Doyle et al 8 for African Americans, 10 in Saudi population, Dallanora et al 12 in Brazilians, and Criado et al 13 in Cubans.…”

“…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.…”

“…Prevalence ranging from 22.3% to 55% 4,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] have been reported. The highest prevalence of TMD in relation to age has been estimated between the ages of 20 and 40.…”

Cerezen device provides treatment for temporomandibular joint disorders day and night

“…This is disquieting since 25% of adults worldwide experience the condition at some point in their lives. [1][2][3][4] It has long been recommended that initial therapy for TMD should be conservative, non-invasive and reversible, and the most widely adopted treatment option to date has been the intraoral stabilisation splint. However, intraoral stabilisation splints cannot be worn while eating or drinking, and they also affect speech, so patients predominantly use them at night leading to a search for an alternative solution for daytime pain relief which does not impact on their ability to speak and eat and is less 'obvious' and obtrusive.…”