• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.305-318
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• 2007

To evaluate the treatment outcome after conservative treatment in patients with TMJ disc displacement which is the most common temporomandibular joint arthropathy, the subjects were chosen among the patients who presented to the Department of Oral Medicine of Pusan National University Hospital, diagnosed as TMDs and treated with conservative methods from 1994 to 2006 for 13 years. 88 patients with diagnosis of DD/cR and 60 patients with diagnosis of DD/sR were selected as the experimental group and 74 patients with diagnosis of masticatory muscle disorder (MMD) were selected as the control group. Subjective symptoms and clinical findings were investigated to evaluate and compare the subjects' status at the first visit and the last visit. The results were as follows; 1. Pain, noise, LOM and MCO measurements of DD/cR, DD/sR and MMD groups were markedly improved after conservative treatments including behavior therapy, physical therapy, medication and splint therapy. 2. At the first visit, high score of pain in MMD group, high score of noise and large MCO measurement in DD/cR group and high LOM score in DD/sR group were observed. At the last visit, high score of noise and increased MCO measurement in DD/cR group and high score of pain and LOM in DD/sR group were observed. 3. Among the patients who complained joint sound at their first visit, about 60% showed complete loss of joint sound after conservative treatment 4. DD/cR and DD/sR groups showed satisfactory outcomes after conservative treatments such as behavior therapy, physical therapy, medication and splint therapy while MMD group showed similar treatment outcome irrespective of the treatment modality used. 5. There was no difference in treatment outcomes after conservative treatments when the subjects were classified and compared according to gender, age group and chronicity. 6. MMD showed satisfactory prognosis in 10 treatments in less than 6 months while DD showed favorable prognosis in 10-20 treatments for 6 months to 2 years.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.211-218
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to compare the maximum bite forces between pre- and post-treatment related to specific diagnostic groups of TMD including masticatory muscle disorder (MMD), disc derangement (DD), joint inflammation (JI) and osteoarthritis (OA). Bite force between pre- and post-treatment was compared in 36 patients with unilateral TMD, successfully-managed in the Department of Oral Medicine, Dankook University Dental Hospital, for this study. The ratio of men to women was 7:29 and their mean age of $28.1{\pm}13.7$ years. The patients were categorized, through clinical and radiographic examination, into aforementioned 4 groups; MMD (N=18), DD (N=6), JI (N=5) and OA (N=7). The maximum bite force measurements were done at the antagonizing canines and 1st molars using a bite force recorder. Paired t-test, ANOVA, Multiple Comparison t-tests were used for statistical analysis. The results of this study showed that the maximum bite force before treatment increased after TMD treatment, which was noticeable at the canines (p=0.001 and p=0.000 for the affected and unaffected sides, respectively). In comparison related to the diagnostic groups of TMD, patients with osteoarthritis of TMJ exhibited the lowest strength while those with inflammatory disorder of TMJ had the highest strength on the affected sides. Increase of bite force after treatment was also found in each group. Significant difference between pre- and post-treatment was found at canines on the affected sides in MMD (p=0.045) and DD groups (p=0.009) while on the unaffected sides in OA group (p=0.003). Conclusively, the reduced bite force due to TMD could be recovered by conservative TMD treatment and that the difference of bite forces between pre- and post-treatment was noticeable at the canines.