Italian physiotherapists' knowledge and practice in temporomandibular disorders: A national survey.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the knowledge of Italian physiotherapists regarding temporomandibular disorders (TMD) management and to investigate the use of evidence-based strategies.

METHODS

A survey was distributed to 412 Italian physiotherapists collecting data on demographics, education, TMD knowledge, assessment, and treatment strategies.

RESULTS

Most respondents (73.3%) reported no formal TMD training during their bachelor, and more than half (51.0%) treated no TMD patients in an average month. 67.2% provided a TMDs definition according to literature, and 92.0% recognized the primary structural pain generators. 21.8% were familiar with the DC/TMD diagnostic criteria, while misconceptions persisted regarding occlusion (26.7% endorsing a causal role) and posture (28.6%). 81.1% used education , and 88.3% adopted a multimodal strategy consistent with guidelines.

CONCLUSIONS

Italian physiotherapists showed good general TMDs knowledge and frequent use of guideline-consistent treatment. However, limited undergraduate exposure, variable postgraduate education, and persisting misconceptions highlight the need for more standardized and evidence-based training in this context.