Prevalence of Symptoms Associated with Temporomandibular Disorders in Patients with Psychosocial Disorders

The identification of an unambiguous universal cause for Temporomandibular Joint Disorders (TMD) is still lacking. It is considered as a multifactorial disorder that results from existence of various contributing factors; psychosocial factors being one of them. Some studies have reported that in a significant number of patients, psychosocial factors play a role in causation and maintenance of temporomandibular disorders. However, whether the symptoms related to TMD are more prevalent in patients with psychosocial disorders, still needs to be explored. This study is expected not only to provide a baseline data about the prevalence, but also throw some light on the complex inter-relationship between TMD and psychosocial disorders. Two hundred adult individuals diagnosed with some psychosocial disorder, either institutionalized or under out-patient care, were included in the study. Based on direct interviews and standard clinical examination methods, subjective and objective TMJ symptoms were evaluated. The results were then, post-hoc compared to prevalence of the same symptoms in hundred normal individuals. Analysis of the results showed prevalence of subjective TMJ symptoms to be 12%, where as objective TMJ symptoms were present in 19.5% of participants with psychosocial disorders. Compared to this, prevalence of these subjective and objective symptoms in normal individuals was 32% and 27% respectively. The prevalence of symptoms related to TMJ disorders does not appear to be unusually high in patients with psychosocial disorder. Though some comorbidity between both these conditions is present, no clear relationship could be established. Clinical article (J Int Dent Med Res 2012; 5: (1), pp. 26-29)