Alain Arias; Diego Saravia; Melanie Quintana; Fernando Dias; María Florencia Lezcano; Constanza Farfán & Ramón Fuentes

Summary

Both the limitation of mandibular movement and the self-report of symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are used for the diagnosis of patients in clinical diagnosis. However, the relationship between the symptoms and mandibular movement is not entirely clear. Therefore, the objective of this study was to relate the presence of symptoms associated with TMD with mandibular movement in a sample of young and healthy adult subjects. This exploratory study involved 40 medically healthy dentistry students with a continuous and complete maxillary and mandibular arch (up to the first molar). Each subject was asked to answer a self-report questionnaire for symptoms associated with TTM recommended by the American Academy of Orofacial Pain (AAOP). We also recorded and analyzed their mandibular movements using 3D electromagnetic articulography, with the aim of correlating the presence of symptoms with the range and trajectory of opening, and the area included in what is described as a polygon of Posselt in the frontal and sagittal plane. No significant differences were found between the answers to each question between men and women. According to the responses and to Delcanho, 12 participants turned out to need a more exhaustive evaluation. In this group it was found that the area of the Posselt polygon in the frontal plane was significantly smaller than that of those participants who did not require a more extensive evaluation (p = 0.003). The values of the mandibular opening path vary depending on the symptom involved. The main symptoms that would affect the values of the bordering movements are the "difficulty to open the mouth" and "noise in the mandibular joints". With this study, we have shown that the limitation of mandibular movement as a sign of TMD should be assessed with caution, as, according to the presence of certain symptoms and other characteristics of subjects (such as sex), its value may vary.

KEY WORDS: temporomandibular disorders, mandibular movement, electromagnetic articulography.

How to cite this article

ARIAS, A.; SARAVIA, D.; QUINTANA, M.; DIAS, F.; LEZCANO, M. F.; FARFÁN, C. & FUENTES, R. Relationship between symptoms of self-reported temporomandibular disorders and mandibular movement of young adult subjects. Int. J. Odontostomat., 13 (4):466474, 2019.