Prevalence of parafunctional habits and temporomandibular dysfunction symptoms in patients attending a tertiary headache clinic.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the most prevalent forms of headache in a tertiary outpatient service, and to assess the frequency of associated parafunctional habits and temporomandibular dysfunction symptoms (TMD).

METHOD: All new patients referred to the Headache Outpatient Service in UNIMES during 2008 were prospectively assessed by the neurologist and the dental surgeon.

RESULTS

Eighty new patients were assessed; chronic migraine and episodic migraine without aura were the most prevalent conditions, accounting for 66.3% of all cases. There was significantly higher use of analgesics/days for the chronic migraine patients. The prevalence of parafunctional habits was 47.5% and the prevalence of TMD symptoms was 35%.

CONCLUSION

The high prevalence of primary headaches, parafunctional habits and TMD symptoms and the inadequate use of analgesic drugs suggest that primary healthcare units need further training in the field of headache and orofacial pain.