Pain, dynamic postural control, mental health and impact of oral health in individuals with temporomandibular disorder: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Some studies claim that functional changes in TMD affect the stomatognathic system (SS) and could contribute to the emergence of pain and changes in postural control.

Purpose: To characterize and to compare pain, dynamic postural control (DPC), mental health and impact of oral health (QoL) in different types of temporomandibular disorders (TMD).

Method: Cross-sectional study with 116 participants evaluated by a validated TMD protocol and divided into three groups, muscle TMD (TMD-M, n = 32), joint TMD (TMD-J, n = 30) and muscle-joint TMD (TMD-MJ, n = 54).Chewing pain, DPC, anxiety, depression, sleep quality and impact of oral health on QoL were measured. One-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, Pearson's Chi-square test and eta-square effect size were used to data analysis.

Results: TMD-J showed less subjective pain than TMD-M (p = 0.014) and TMD-MJ (p = 0.021).TMD-J also presented greater height (p = 0.022) and body mass (p = 0.041) than the TMD-MJ and TMD-M, respectively. The DPC evaluation with sensory organization test 1 (SOT1, open eyes, platform and cabin fixed) in the medio-lateral direction (ML) was higher (p = 0.027) for TMD-J than TMD-M. TMD-MJ had a higher level of depression (p = 0.041) than TMD-J, and a greater impact of oral health on QoL (p = 0.035) than TMD-M.

Conclusion: Masticatory pain was lower in the TMD-J. There was a reduction in DPC in the ML of SOT1 in the TMD-J owing to the greater height of the patients in this group. The TMD-MJ had higher levels of depression and negative impact of oral health. In general, poor oral health reduces QoL in patients with TMD.