• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.78-86
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• 2022

An association between psychological factors and temporomandibular disorders (TMD) has been extensively explored for over 40 years, and a high prevalence of depression and somatization has been consistently reported in patients with TMD. Current evidence suggests that patients' somatic awareness can serve as a primer for TMD incidence and further contribute to the transition to chronic pain. However, the current understanding of somatization from a medical perspective is limited. The best way to address patients with TMD pain who have somatization is also unclear. Therefore, this paper aims to provide an overview of somatization in the context of pain psychology and address its clinical implications in the context of TMD pain.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2021

Various conditions such as pain or effusion of temporomandibular joint, degenerative condylar resorption, and articular disc displacement can be a cause of malocclusion. However, the reasons of occlusal changes are ambiguous in some patients. Unexpected occlusal change in patients with or without temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptom was mostly caused by masticatory muscular disorders. This article reports two cases of recovery of occlusal relationship in TMDs patients after stabilization splint therapy. Stabilization splint therapy could be useful in certain conditions of occlusal changes in TMD.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.198-205
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• 2022

Purpose: The first-line treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs) should include self-management and education. Self-management techniques include moist heat application, stretching, diet control, and mandibular rest position adjustment. Although the effectiveness of video educational resources has been studied in multiple sectors, their application in TMD management has not yet been explored. This study seeks to assess how effective media education was at motivating TMD patients to self-management and improve symptoms. Methods: Data were obtained from the hospital records of TMD patients who visited the Department of Oral Medicine, Yonsei University Dental Hospital, between May 2020 and December 2021. First, without any differences between groups, a significance analysis was conducted between the degree of self-management and symptom improvement over time. At the second visit, one group received media education (n=31) linked to TMD management, while the other received written-oriented education (n=45). At the third visit, the number of precautions taken by the patients was determined and contrasted to that recorded in the previous visit between the groups. Generalized estimated equation multivariate models were applied for statistical analysis. Results: In the media education group, the frequency of stretching and the number of patients on pain-free diets increased substantially. Taking precautions improved daily pain intensity, maximum mouth opening, and pain intensity during the maximum unassisted opening. Conclusions: Media education could be beneficial for TMD patients because it allows them to take self-management precautions. The symptoms of the media education group improved, with no considerable distinction between both groups.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2006

As migraine pain represents a substantial personal and social burden worldwide, there has been a great deal of effort in developing a screening instrument for migraine. Lipton et al(2003) developed and validated the ID Migraine questionnaire, which is a self-administered screener for migraine in primary care, and it is brief and easy to use for a primary care provider. The aim of this study was to determine if the ID Migraine questionnaire could be applied successfully to assess the headache patients with temporomandibular disorders(TMD) and orofacial pain. This study found that nausea, photophobia and headache-related disability had the highest individual sensitivities and specificities, and the performance of the three-item screener was equivalent to that reported in a previous study. Although the sensitivity of the three-item screener in this study (0.58) was lower than in a previous study (0.81), the specificity (0.98) was higher and the positive predictive value was 93.9%. This suggest that the ID Migraine questionnaire is very efficient in this setting. In conclusion, the ID Migraine questionnaire, which is a three-item screener consisting of nausea, photophobia and headache-related disability, is effective as a self-administered report for detecting migraine headaches in patients with temporomandibular disorders(TMD) and orofacial pain.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.140-145
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• 2015

Purpose: Bruxism is commonly considered a major risk factor for temporomandibular disorders (TMD), and the psychosocial factors had been one of the etiologic factor of bruxism. But there are still unsolved issues on the relationship between sleep bruxism and TMD and the etiologic factors of bruxism. This study is aim to evaluate the clinical and psychosocial characteristics according to diagnostic grade of bruxism in TMD patients. Methods: Three hundred subjects were enrolled who were under the stabilization splint therapy for TMD. Recently international consensus proposed a diagnostic grading system of "possible", "probable", and "definite" sleep or awake bruxism for clinical and research purpose. According to their suggestion, we classified these subjects as self-reported bruxism (SRB) and wear facet bruxism (WFB). We investigated the clinical characteristics (sex, age, chief complaint, pain duration, visual analogue scale), sum of tenderness (temporomandibular joint, masticatory muscles, cervical muscles), diagnosis of TMD according to research diagnostic criteria (the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders, RDC/TMD), headache, subjective sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI), and psychosocial characteristics (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, SCL-90-R) in enrolled subjects. We compared the clinical and psychosocial characteristics between these bruxism groups. Results: There were no significant correlation between self-reported and WFB (p=0.13). SRB subjects more reported pain as a chief complain than subject who did not report bruxism (p=0.014). The mean score of global PSQI was significantly higher in SRB than in did not report positively subjects (p=0.045). The mean score of anxiety and phobic anxiety was significantly higher in SRB than in did not reported positively subjects (p=0.045, p=0.041). Conclusions: Although bruxism is regarded as risk factor of TMD, this study showed inconsistent result between SRB and clinically detected bruxism by wear facet on slpint. We suggest that the clinician should consider with extreme caution when they assess SRB.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.72-76
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• 2011

Temporomandibular disorders refer to a large group musculoskeletal disorders that originate from the masticatory structures. The AADR recognize that temporomandibular (TMDs) encompass a group of musculoskeletal and neuromuscular conditions that involve the temporomandibular joints (TMJs), the masticatory muscles, and all associated tissues. The signs and symptoms associated with these disorders are diverse, and may include difficulties with chewing, speaking, and other orofacial functions. They also are frequently associated with acute or persistent pain, and the patients often suffer from other painful disorders. The chronic forms of TMD pain may lead to absence from or impairment of work or social interactions, resulting in an overall reduction in the quality of life. However, the consensus of recent scientific literature about currently available technological diagnostic devices for TMDs is that, except for various imaging modalities, none of them shows the sensitivity and specificity required to separate normal subjects from TMD patients or to distinguish among TMD subgroups. This article reviews the various instruments to aid in the diagnosis of TMDs, and the overall validity and practical use of the Electromyography.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.99-109
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• 2016

Purpose: This study investigated factors influencing the xerostomia symptoms in the patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). Methods: Eighty-six participants over the age of twenty were randomly enrolled from patients with TMDs. The patients were diagnosed by Diagnostic Criteria-TMD (DC-TMD). Intensity of the pain and level of stress of the patients were recorded using TMD pain visual analogue scale (VAS) and stress VAS, respectively. The Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90R), dry mouth symptom questionnaire, unstimulated salivary flow rate (USFR) and oral moisture were measured. Results: The patients who had above the mean of the TMD pain VAS had significantly higher scores on the stress VAS, subjective dry mouth symptoms and T-score of somatization. The patients who suffered from pain more than three months had significantly higher TMD pain VAS, subjective dry mouth symptoms and T-score of somatization. There were no significant differences in xerostomic symptoms according to the diagnosis of TMDs. Moreover, TMD pain VAS and the stress VAS did not correlated to USFR and oral moisture. Conclusions: The level of individuals' TMD pain and stress significantly affect their subjective dry mouth symptoms, however, it did not affect USFR and oral moisture.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.65-68
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• 2019

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD), involving the masticator system of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and masticator muscle, can be characterized with the cardinal signs and symptoms of jaw pain, noises and limitation of mandibular range of motion. However, TMD requires differential diagnosis due to its heterogeneous characteristics with various causes despite the similar clinical profiles. Oral cancer involving TMJ and the masticator system, although infrequent, can be one of these causes and should be considered one of the most life-threatening disease mimicking TMDs. This report introduces a case of masticator space tumor originally diagnosed as TMD in a 73-year-old Korean female with previous history of brain tumor. The clinical signs and symptoms closely mimic that of TMD which may have disrupted differential diagnosis. We discuss here key points for suspecting TMDs of secondary origin, namely, that of cancer and the implications it has on dental clinicians.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.100-106
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the relationship between temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) and the asymmetry of the mandibular height. Methods: We compared 100 randomly selected TMD patients diagnosed by the research diagnostic criteria for TMD (RDC/TMD) Axis I with 100 non-TMD control subjects matched with the TMD patients in age and gender. The mandibular heights were measured on an orthopantomogram and the asymmetry index (AI) was calculated as previously described. Results: The absolute AI value of 4.37% turned out to be the least cut-off value defining asymmetry, which showed a significant difference in asymmetry incidence (p<0.01) between the TMD and control groups. The risk of TMD increased in the asymmetry group by 4.57 (odds ratio). The incidence of asymmetry was not related to age and gender in both of the TMD and control groups. When dividing the TMD group according to the RDC/TMD Axis I diagnosis, neither the incidence of muscle disorder nor disk displacement was related to the incidence of asymmetry. However, a higher incidence of asymmetry was observed in the subjects classified into the arthrosis/arthritis groups (p<0.01). Conclusions: Although it does not imply a direct cause-and-effect relationship, asymmetry resulting in more than 4.37% difference between mandibular heights may increase the risk of TMD and correlates positively to the incidence of arthritic change in the temporomandibular joint of TMD patients.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.47-54
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• 2015

Purpose: Besides depression and anxiety, recently pain catastrophizing has been emphasized for an important psychological factor explaining pain response in various pain conditions including temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). The aims of this study were to evaluate pain catastrophizing of TMD patients and to investigate how the level of pain catastrophizing related with clinical variables and psychometric morbidity. Methods: Inclusion criterion was all new TMD patients ${\geq}18$ years old attending the Department of Orofacial Pain and Oral Medicine of Dankook University Dental Hospital (Cheonan, Korea) over three-month period in 2014, who completed questionnaires. The questionnaires included the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), and Symptom Check List- 90-Revised (SCL-90-R). All of them were examined clinically and diagnosed. Results: One hundred fifty five patients diagnosed as TMDs were participated in this study (mean age of $38.7{\pm}15.2$ years, male:female=1:2.5). Mean PCS score of the patients was 17.3 with standard deviation of 12.6. By the median of the PCS score (i.e., 15), the subjects were categorized into the high (${\geq}15$) and low catastrophizers (<15). Increased pain severity and interference and increased score of psychological features of SCL-90-R were found in the TMD patients with higher level of catastrophizing (p<0.001) and there was weak to moderate correlation between those factors (p<0.05). Difference in catastrophizing level was not found for other variables such as age, gender, duration of pain, education level and types of TMDs. Conclusions: Conclusively, pain catastrophizing of TMD patients relates positively to pain severity and pain interference. In addition to depression and anxiety, pain catastrophizing is positively correlated with variable other psychological morbidity such as somatization, obsessive- compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, paranoid ideation and psychoticism. Types of TMD diagnosis do not seem to affect catastrophizing level. The results of this study suggest that pain catastrophizing should be emphasized and assessed in the TMD patients.