Impact of pain-related temporomandibular disorders on jaw functional limitation, psychological distress and quality of life in postoperative class III East Asian patients.

Objectives: This cross-sectional study determined the prevalence of painful TMD and its impact on jaw function, psychological status and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in postoperative Chinese patients. It also assessed factors influencing OHRQoL of these patients.

Materials And Methods: Subjects were recruited from the National Dental Centre Singapore dentofacial deformity registry. Invitations to participate in the study were sent to patients who sought treatment from March 2011 to November 2017. Patients who consented were directed to an online link to complete a series of questionnaires based on the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (DC-TMD) and the orthognathic quality of life questionnaire (OQLQ).

Results: The subjects (n = 99) had a mean age of 25.2 ± 6.0 years and postoperative time of 29.4 ± 22.7 months. 18.2% were found to suffer from pain-related TMD postorthognathic surgery and these patients (n = 18) had significantly higher median JFLS-8 score than those without TMD pain (p = 0.008). Time since surgery was significantly associated with OHRQoL (p = 0.00000026).

Conclusions: Prevalence of painful TMD and psychological distress was low while prevalence of jaw functional limitation was moderately high in postoperative class III Chinese patients.

Clinical Relevance: Painful TMD impacted jaw function especially when subjects open wide enough to drink, yawn, talk and smile but had no significant consequence on psychological status and OHRQoL.