• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.112-117
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• 2018

Purpose: The aim of this study is to compare the short-term effectiveness of hard and soft stabilizing appliances (H-A and S-A) in treating patients with acute temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disc displacement without reduction (DDwoR). Methods: Eighty one patients diagnosed as acute TMJ DDwoR at oral medicine of Chosun University Dental Hospital from November 2016 to September 2017 were included in this study. The subjects were divided into three groups: The control group (34 patients treated without occlusal appliance), the H-A group (31 patients treated with H-A) and the S-A group (16 patients treated with S-A). The pain intensity using Visual Analog Scale and maximum mouth opening (MMO) were evaluated every week for 8 weeks. Results: The improvement of the pain intensity and MMO in the H-A group and the S-A group compared with the control group were noted (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study suggests that hard and S-As may be equally useful in treating patients with TMJ DDwoR. S-A could be recommended to reduce the symptoms of TMJ DDwoR in short period.