A Study on the Pain in Patients with Temporomandibular Disorders using Korean Pain Rating Scale

측두하악장애환자에서 한국어 통증척도를 이용한 통증에 관한 연구

The aim of this study was to compare pain descriptions in common dental patients with those in patients with Temporomandibular disorders(TMDs). The study sample consisted of 104 common dental patients and 74 patients with TMDs, and their chief complaint was pain, Subjects were classified common dental pain group and TMDs pain group, respectively. All the subjects completed Korean Pain Rating Scale(KPRS) on first visit. KPRS contains 90 pain terms, which divided into 20 subclasses in 3 dimensions. Each subclass contains 3-6 pain terms. each patient had chosen only one term from each subclass. If there was no proper term, subject could pass the subclass without completion. Words chosen were categorized into sensory, affective, miscellaneous and total dimension. Thereafter they were processed and analyzed by SPSS/PC+ statistical package program with respect to rank values, scale values, number of words chosen and frequency of each subclass. The obtained results of this study were as follows : 1. Total mean number of words chosen was 7.6. 2. Chronic patients groups with Temporomandibular disorders had chosen more freuently from the subclasses in affective dimension than the patients in acute common dental pain group. 3. Frequency of affective dimension was higher in chronic patients groups with Temporomandibular disorders than that of acute patients group with Temporomandibular disorders. 4. Chronic patients group with Temporomandibular disorders had higher frequency in constrictive pressure pain, traction pressure pain, dull pain and fatigue-related pain terms than acute common dental patients group. 5. Acute patients group with Temporomandibular disorders had higher frequency in traction pressure pain and dull pain terms but had lower frequency in chemical pain, peripheral nerve pain and cold pain terms than acute common dental patients groups. 6. There were high positive correlation between the scale- and rank-value in the pain rating index.