Relative impact of masticatory muscle pain, dynamic temporomandibular disc abnormality, and osteoarthritis on clinical symptoms of patients with temporomandibular disorders

• Published in: Journal of the Japanese Society for the Temporomandibular Joint Vol. 33; no. 2; pp. 37 - 44
• Main Authors: MORIGUCHI, Daisuke, YATANI, Hirofumi, KUYAMA, Kotaro, UCHIYAMA, Yuka, SHIMAMOTO, Hiroaki, TAKAOKA, Ryota, ISHIGAKI, Shoichi, NAKATANI, Atsutoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Japanese Society for Temporomandibular Joint 20.08.2021; 一般社団法人 日本顎関節学会
• Subjects: masticatory muscle pain; multivariate analysis; osteoarthritis; temporomandibular disc displacement; 咀嚼筋痛; 変形性顎関節症; 多変量解析; 顎関節円板転位
• ISSN: 0915-3004; 1884-4308
• DOI: 10.11246/gakukansetsu.33.37

The present study aimed to clarify the relative impact of masticatory muscle pain, dynamic temporomandibular disc abnormality, and osteoarthritis (OA) on subjective pain intensity and daily life impairment of patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). The subjects consisted of 393 patients with TMD. Dynamic disc abnormality and OA were diagnosed by MRI examination. Palpation of the masticatory muscles was carried out. Also, pain intensity at rest and pain intensity during mastication were recorded using the visual analog scale, and the degree of disability in daily life impairment was evaluated using the scores of activities of daily living (ADL). A multiple regression analysis was performed to identify the significant associations between the outcome (dependent variable: pain intensity at rest or pain intensity during mastication or ADL) and the predictors (covariates: age, sex, presence of masticatory muscle pain, dynamic disc abnormalities, and presence of OA) after controlling simultaneously for potential confounders. Based on the result of multiple regression analysis for the pain intensity at rest, age (p=0.008) and the presence of masticatory muscle pain (p<0.001) were statistically significant explanatory variables. According to the result of multiple regression analysis for the pain intensity during mastication, age (p=0.034) and the presence of masticatory muscle pain (p<0.001) were statistically significant explanatory variables. The result of multiple regression analysis for ADL showed that the presence of masticatory muscle pain was a statistically significant explanatory variable (p<0.001). Therefore, the present study clarified that masticatory muscle pain significantly impacts clinical symptoms in patients with TMD. In addition, it was suggested that improvement of masticatory muscle pain might be the preferential therapeutic goal for patients with TMD.