Responses to conservative treatment in temporomandibular disorders with locking versus with muscle pain.

We conducted a follow-up study of 150 patients with temporomandibular disorders, of whom 91 had muscle pain and 59 locking, in order to investigate the response to conservative treatment. The patients with muscle pain showed fairly uniform age distribution, while the percentage over 49 years of age was lower in those with locking. Of the patients with TMJ locking, the percentage who completed treatment was high, and the duration of treatment in this group was longer than that in those with muscle pain. The differences between these patient groups in the response to conservative treatment may be useful in the assessment of individual patients with temporomandibular disorders. Moreover, the greater incidence of completion of conservative treatment in the patients with locking indicates that these patients should be treated by conservative treatment prior to surgical treatment.