Correlation between temporomandibular disorders and the history of orthodontic treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the occurrence and development of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) and the history of orthodontic treatment.

METHODS

Randomized controlled trials and non-randomized controlled studies investigating the correlation between the occurrence and development of TMDs and the history of orthodontic treatment were included in this study. A comprehensive search was conducted in the 5 databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and The Cochrane Library to collect the literature published from the establishment of each database to March 2025. Meanwhile, other manual retrieval methods were also adopted to search for additional pertinent literature. The corresponding bias risk assessment tools were used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. Meta-analysis was performed for data combination to obtain the odds ratio of the correlation between the 2. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system was used to assess the quality of evidence of the outcome indicators.

RESULTS

5 studies finally met the inclusion criteria: 2 were prospective cohort studies, 2 were case-control studies, and 1 was a cross-sectional study. The total sample size comprised 6971 people, with 3165 males and 3806 females, respectively. The results of the Meta-analysis showed that there was no statistically significant correlation between TMDs and the history of orthodontic treatment (I2 = 71%, odds ratio = 1.12, 95% confidence interval = 0.67 to 1.89, P = .66). The evaluation result of the certainty of evidence was of very low quality.

CONCLUSION

Based on the current limited evidence, this study shows that there is no significant correlation between TMDs and the history of orthodontic treatment. Due to the limited certainty of the evidence, the interpretation of the result must be approached with caution. High-quality clinical studies are still needed in the future to supplement this research topic, so as to formulate high-level evidence-based clinical guidelines and optimize clinical decision-making and diagnosis and treatment services for patients. In order to prevent needless doctor-patient conflicts, orthodontists should closely monitor the potential risk of TMDs in patients with malocclusion in clinical practice.