Self-reported temporomandibular joint disorder symptoms, oral health, and quality of life of children in kindergarten through grade 5: Do sex, race, and socioeconomic background matter?

Background: The authors' objectives were to determine the percentage of children in kindergarten through grade 5 who reported symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD); to assess whether sex, race, and socioeconomic background mattered; and to explore the relationships between TMJD and children's oral health and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL).

Methods: The research team conducted face-to-face interviews with 8,302 children in kindergarten through grade 5 (51% female, 49% male; 53% African American, 42% white). They conducted oral health screenings with 7,439 children.

Occlusal splints and quality of life - does the patient-provider relationship matter?

Purpose: Occlusal splints are often prescribed when treating patients with bruxism. The objectives were to determine (a) whether using occlusal splints improves patients' oral health-related quality of life (ohrqol) and (b) whether the quality of the patient-provider relationship affects these patients' splint-related responses and their ohrqol.

Materials And Methods: Survey data were collected from 233 patients who had received bite splints during the 5 years prior to data collection.

Usefulness of proton density and T2-weighted vs. T1-weighted MRI in diagnoses of TMJ disk status.

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that proton density and T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images are more useful than T1-weighted MR images in the diagnoses of disk displacement, disk reduction, and disk shape. The subject group consisted of 92 patients referred for bilateral MRI imaging because of diagnosed signs of temporomandibular disorders (TMD). In the experimental group (52 patients), both T2-weighted and proton density images were made.