Contribution of orodental status to the intensity of orofacial tardive dyskinesia: an interdisciplinary and video-based assessment.

Background: Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a neurological motor complication eventually arising in one-third of patients chronically exposed to antipsychotic drugs. Some orodental peripheral factors have been reported to influence TD.

Objective: To measure orodental factors such as temporomandibular joint function, static occlusal contacts, and denture condition, and attempt correlations with orofacial TD intensity.

Methods: In this exploratory cross-sectional pilot study, 31 subjects between 30 and 75 years of age were divided in two groups displaying minimal to mild, or moderate to severe orofacial TD, respectively, and underwent a detailed oral, dental, and prosthetic evaluation to capture various aspects of oral health compared between the two groups. Blinded video-based TD ratings along a validated scale were obtained to compare dentulous and edentulous subjects, and contrast TD intensity in complete denture wearers with and without their own prostheses.

Results: None of the factors examined tightly correlated with orofacial TD intensity. However, edentulism was associated with a higher median orofacial TD rating compared to the dentulous group (p = 0.001). Further, a significant intra-subject difference was observed in the edentulous subjects rated with their own complete dentures in place or not (p = 0.028), the dentures attenuating the mean orofacial ratings by 21.8 ± 7.3%.

Conclusion: Of all orodental factors considered, only edentulism and complete denture wearing influenced oral TD expression, calling for the close monitoring of the dental status in antipsychotic drug-exposed patients to prevent tooth loss. Further studies to measure the impact of an adequate prosthodontic rehabilitation in edentulous subjects with orofacial TD seem warranted.