Prevalence of TMJ Disorders among Patients Attending the King Faisal University Dental Clinics, KSA.

Aim: To assess the prevalence of signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) in a sample population of Al-Hasa by Fonseca's questionnaire.

Materials And Methods: A group of 240 patients was randomly selected from outpatients, attending the dental clinical complex of King Faisal University. The participants were grouped based on gender and age-groups: 14 to 20, 21 to 40, 41 to 60, and 61 ≤ years. Each participant was provided with a questionnaire and points were given accordingly for each question. The sum of points was used to classify the severity of TMD. The obtained data were analyzed with SPSS 21 and the significance level of was fixed at ≤ 0.05.

Results: Among all participants examined, 131 participants had no TMD (54.6%), 79 had mild TMD (32.9%), 19 had moderate TMD (7.9%), and 11 had severe TMD (4.6%). TMD problem increases with age and significance level ( = 0.007) and females had more TMD problems than males ( = 0.008).

Conclusion: The Fonseca's questionnaire is an effective tool for screening the signs and symptoms of TMDs, in a short period, and classifies patients according to their severity. According to the study results, approximately 45.4% of the patients had some degree of TMD problems. The present study is cross-sectional with a limited number of participants and it should be followed by a longitudinal study in the near future to validate.

Clinical Significance: Early detection of TMD problems will help in treatment planning and prognosis.