Mandibular kinesiographic pattern of women with chronic TMD after management with educational and self-care therapies: A double-blind, randomized clinical trial.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Limited mandibular movements are one of the most important signs of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) and may cause functional difficulties.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this double-blind, randomized clinical trial was to evaluate the effect of treatment with only educational or education associated with self-care therapies on the pattern of mandibular movements of women with chronic painful TMDs.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

Forty-two women were selected and randomly divided into 3 groups, control group (CG, n=13), education group (EG, n=16), and education and self-care group (ESG, n=13), according to the sequence of treatment they received. A kinesiograph device recorded mandibular movements during maximum mouth opening and mastication at baseline (T0) and at 30-day (T1) and 60-day (T2) follow-up. Kinesiographic data were statistically analyzed using 1-way ANOVA, followed by the Bonferroni test for multiple comparisons of means (α=.05).

RESULTS

The ESG group demonstrated an improvement in the maximum vertical opening (MVO= 5.1 ±3.4 mm; P=.012) and anteroposterior mandibular movement (MAM) during maximum opening (7.4 ±9.5; P=.019), significantly higher than that of the EG (MVO=1.8 ±3.5 mm; MAM=0.8 ±5.0 mm) and the CG (MVO=0.9 ±3.8 mm; MAM=0.8 ±4.4 mm) after 30 days of follow-up. Moreover, at T1, vertical mandibular movement during mastication was significantly higher in the ESG group (17.4 ±1.7 mm) than in the EG group (15.0 ±2.8, P=.027). No significant differences were found between the women who received treatment with educational and self-care therapies for 60 days and the women who received this treatment for 30 days.

CONCLUSIONS

In the short-term, education and self-care treatment positively influenced the mandibular movement pattern of women with chronic painful TMDs.