• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.87-95
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• 2013

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a severe form of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), presenting gradual breakdown of articular cartilage and subchondral bone by the functional load sustained to exceed the physiologic tolerance of the joint. In such a joint loaded, offensive bioactive materials such as matrix degrading proteins, cytokines, and free radicals increase in concentration to shift the tissue response in the joint to degeneration from regeneration or remodeling. Recently, it has been issued that obesity can play an offensive role in pathogenesis of OA in a metabolic way. Adipokines released by adipose cells are present at higher concentration in the arthritic joint and joints of obese individuals. However, because of conflicting data reported, further scientific study should be performed to elucidate the practical role of adipokines in pathogenesis of TMJ OA. As far as the clinical signs and symptoms of TMJ OA are not much different from those of other forms of TMD and any definitive treatment modality to control directly the bone resorptive activity is not available yet, the treatment of TMJ OA should be directed to reduce the physical load and enhance the physiologic tolerance of the joint by means of conservative treatment such as physical therapy, medication, and occlusal splint therapy for sufficient period and, if needed after that, supplementary surgical procedure such as intra-articular injection, arthrocenthesis, and arthroscopic surgery that have turned out to be effective to control OA signs and symtpoms. Enthusiastic reassurance and motivation for patients to control behaviors for themselves to reduce unnecessary functional load in daily life is very important for the joint to reach to more favorable orthopedic stability of the TMJ more quickly, guaranteeing more successful management TMJ OA.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 1986

18 TMD patients who received occlusal adjustment in PNUH though Jan.1984 to 1985 were followed up for short-term(2-6yrs.) and long-term(1-2yrs.) evaluation. The obtained results were as follows : 1. Pain index showed gradual decrease after occlusal adjustment and significant change on long-term evaluation. 2. Noise index had no significant change throughout the all follow-up evaluation. 3. Opening limitation index showed gradual decrease after occlusal adjustment and significant change on both long-term and short-term evaluation. 4. Maximum comfortable opening exhibited more and more increase and significant change on long-term evaluation.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.171-178
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• 2012

Botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) has been applied successfully to treat chronic migraine, dystonia, spasticity and temporomandubular disorders(TMDs) as well as frontal wrinkle and glabella wrinkle. Recently it has been reported that BoNT-A, reversibly blocks presynaptic acetylcholine release, also inhibits the release of substance P, CGRP(calcitonin gene related peptide) and glutamate related to peripheral sensitization and neurogenic inflammation in sensory nerve, In this study we reviewed animal nerve injury model such as rat and rabbit and identify the analgesic effect and mechanism of nerve injury pain after dental treatment.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.75-83
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• 2008

There was a research to make it sure that among the contributing factors, the cognitive factor affects on TMD(temporomandibular disorders) or not, we used a questionnaire on new TMD patients who visited the Department of Oral Medicine at Pusan National University of Hospital(PNUH). Research was to identify the patients' understanding of the TMD. 120 patients who visited PNUH from 2007 June to August were tested and following are the results. 1. Those who were in Jr. college or had higher scholarship showed higher understanding than those with final graduation of high school or had lower scholarship(p=0.129). 2. Percentage of high scorers(score of $16{\sim}20$) were in Jr. college or had higher scholarship than those with final graduation of high school or had lower scholarship(p=0.098). 3. Both in those who scored higher than average and in those scored lower than average, there was no difference in the rate of previsit to local dental clinic, selection of special treatment(by professor), and attendance to next visit after their conservative treatment. 4. Patients who claimed that their symptom did not change after conservative treatment showed higher rate of pre-visit to local dentist(p=0.107) and selection of special treatment(by professor)(p=0.101) and many of them were in Jr. college or had higher scholarship(p=0.005). 5. The fact the patients who claimed their symptoms did not changed or got worsen had a tendency of higher scholarship showed that understanding of the TMD has little to do with the improvement of symptom and that TMD is a very complicated disease.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.339-352
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• 2008

Aims: The aims of this study were to identify the association between cervical muscle pain and TMD by pressure pain response, and to find cervical muscles showing moderate to severe pressure pain that are correlated with masticatory muscle pain. Methods: Patients(n=129, female 65.9%, mean age 28.8 years) answered a TMD questionnaire asking about headache, neck pain, emotional stress, sleep disturbance, parafunction habits, and pain intensity. A clinical examination of the masticatory system was performed. Of the neck muscles, (1) the upper sternocleidomastoid, (2) the middle sternocleidomastoid, (3) the upper trapezius, (4) the splenius capitis, (5) the semispinalis capitis, (6) the scalene medius, and (7) the levator scapulae muscles were examined by palpation. Pressure pain or tenderness of all palpation sites was scored from 0 to 3 according to the pain response. The variables of sum of pressure pain scores were calculated from pressure pain scores and were used for statistical analyses. Results: Eighty patients(62.0%) answered that they suffer from neck pain in the TMD questionnaire. More than 40% of sternocleidomastoid and upper trapezius examination sites showed moderate to severe tenderness in the cervical muscles, and 36% of middle masseter in the masticatory muscles. For the 129 patients, the sum of cervical muscle pain scores(mean=12.88, SD=8.06) and the sum of TMD pain scores(mean=5.36, SD=5.10) were moderately correlated($\rho$ = 0.502, P < 0.001). The sum of TMD pain scores tends to increase as the sum of cervical muscle pain scores increases(Y = 0.395${\cdot}$X, $R^2$ = 0.659, P < 0.001). In the patients with masticatory muscle disorders, the sum of sternocleidomastoid and upper trapezius pain scores(mean = 8.67, SD = 4.95) and the sum of temporalis and masseter pain scores(mean = 3.37, SD = 3.56) showed moderate correlation($\rho$ = 0.375, P < 0.001). Those two variables were in a proportionate relationship(Y = 0.359${\cdot}$X, $R^2$ = 0.538, P < 0.001). In a partial correlation analysis of the sum of unilateral pain scores, the sum of right cervical muscle pain scores and the sum of left cervical muscle pain scores showed the highest correlation(r = 0.802, P < 0.001). The sum of right TMD pain scores and the sum of left TMD pain scores were moderately correlated(r = 0.481, P < 0.001). For the twenty patients with unilateral TMD pain, the partial correlation coefficient between the sum of ipsilateral cervical muscle pain scores and the sum of contralateral cervical muscle pain scores was the largest(r = 0.597, P = 0.009). A partial correlation between the sum of primary TMD side pain scores and the sum of ipsilateral cervical muscle pain scores was 0.564(P = 0.015). Conclusions: TMD is associated with cervical muscle pain on condition of pressure pain response to palpation. Of the cervical muscles, sternocleidomastoid and upper trapezius frequently exhibit moderate to severe pressure pain, and they are closely related to the masticatory muscle pain. The characteristic of symmetric involvement of pain is prominent in cervical muscles; however, TMD can affect the level of cervical muscle pain to modify its symmetric nature.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.187-195
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• 2008

Purpose: This epidemiologic research was carried out to investigate the degree and aspects of symptoms of patients suffered from TMD using RDC/TMD. Subjects and Methods: Subjects were the patients who had visited to SNUBH dental clinic from Jan. 2005 to Dec. 2005, and total 117 patients were included (M: 22, F:95). The signs and symptoms of physical, psychological and behavioral factors were retrospectively evaluated by questionnaires in the RDC/TMD. The patients were examined through clinical and radiological method, and diagnosed by same investigator. They were divided into 3 groups such as osteoarthritis group (group 1), internal deragnement (group 2), myofascial pain dysfunction syndrome group (MPDS, group 3). In addition, in patient with complex diagnosis they were divided into subgroups in detail (ex. group 1+group 2). In the questionnaire, several items were selected to calculate the graded pain score (grade $0{\sim}IV$), depression and vegetative symptoms, nonspecific physical symptoms(pain items included) and nonspecific physical symptoms(pain items excluded) in each group. Results: As a result of classification by diagnostic criteria of this study, the patients were distributed to 45% of group 1, 47% of group 2, 8% of group 3 in this study. In younger patients (under 25-year old, n=40), group 2 was occupied 57% (n=23) and group 1 was 35%, group 3 was 8%, while group 1 was occupied 75% in elderly-patients (over 40-year old, n=28) in present study (group 2: 21%, group 3: 4%). In the analysis of depression and vegetative symptoms, majority of patients in Group 2 were included in 'normal', and in Group 3 it appeared to have larger proportion of 'moderate' & 'severe' than others. According to nonspecific physical symptoms, there have been tendencies of higher ratio of 'severe' in patients with MPDS. In graded pain score, more than half (58%) of subjects were included in grade 0 and low disability (Grade I and II), and 27% were revealed high disability (grade III, IV).

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.141-158
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• 1995

This study was performed to invetigate the relationship between clinical manifestations related to temporomandibular joint sounds and temporomandibular joint vibrations that occurred synchronously with sounds. There have been reported in many articles that joint sounds indicate internal joint pathology. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate type and patterns of joint sounds, and radiographic changes of temporomandibular joint(TMJ) in order to diagnose and deal with the Temporomandibular Disorders(TMD). For this study 142 patients with TMDs were collected and they were examined by routine diagnostic procedure for TMDs. The author classified TMJ sounds clinically into 3 types : click, popping, and crepitus. Transcranial and panoramic radiographs were taken for observein bony changes of TMJ, and for observing vibrations of TMJ Sonopak of Biopak system was used. The obtained results were as follows : 1. Female subjects with crepitus were older than those with click or popping and their mean ages were about 45 years old. But in male subjects, there was no age difference. 2. For all subjects, mean value of maximal mouth opening were above 40mm, which are lower limit of normal vertical opening. But in subjects with L-type opening deviation, mouth opening capacity were about 36mm of range. 3. Symptom duration stated when patient presented first were slightly longer in subjects with crepitus but there were no statistical differences. And there were also no radiographic differences among 3 types of joint sounds in regard to symptom duration. 4. In subjects wih click, it might have been interpreted that 12% had closed lock, 12% had degenerative joint disease, and about 17% of he subjects had normal joints by Sonopak. 5. There were no significant relationships between subjective loudness of joint sounds and magnitude of joint vibrations. 6. The highest value of Integral and peak amplitude were observed in popping sounds and though it was not significant, value of peak frequency was highest in crepitus. 7. Amount of mandibular positional change were differed between click and crepitus on frontal plane, between click, crepitus and popping on horizontal plane in rotational movement, respectively. However, there no difference among them in translational movements.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.273-280
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• 1994

The Magnetic Resonance Imaging has been used widely to evaluate the disk position without any interruption of the TMJ structures, and the Dynamic MRI presenting computed serial imaging or the video-recorded simulation images is thought to be very effective to evaluate the disk position under function. This is to study the correlation between the clinical diagnosis and the findings of Dynamic MRI for the diagnosis of internal derangement of the temporomandibular joints. 30 joints(15 patients) were examined clinically, and the movement of TMJ meniscus was reviewed in the dynamic MRI. The comparative results are as follows : 1. All internal derangements of TMJ disk displacement without reduction were consistent with MRI findings. 2. 5 joints (50%) of disk displacements with reduction could not be confirmed by MRI findings. 3. The disk displacements in MRI were found in 55% of painful joints, 50% of clicking joints, and 70% of the joints with restricted movement. 4. The reliability of MRI for the diagnosis of TMD was evaluated as 77% ; 24 of 30 joints who presented with clinical diagnosis of TMD. 5. MRI is very reliable to diagnose the disk displacement without reduction, but it is rather not so effective to diagnose the early derangement or muscle disorders.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.289-294
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• 2022

Background: Orofacial pain is defined as pain felt in the soft or hard tissues of the head, face, mouth, and neck. Chronic orofacial pain is often challenging to diagnose and difficult to treat. Due to the lack of available information about the prevalence and clinical form of orofacial pain, this study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of chronic orofacial pain in patients presenting at the Department of Oral Medicine of Shahid Beheshti Dental School between 2012 and 2022. Methods: In this retrospective study, we evaluated the files of 121 patients at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases of Shahid Beheshti Dental School, which were completed during 2012-2022. We extracted the required information from these files. Results: In total, 121 files were included in the study (30 male, 91 female). The mean age of the patients was 43.68 ± 16.79 years. The most common diagnosis in patients with chronic orofacial pain was temporomandibular disorders (TMD) (55.3%). Among pain-related factors, psychological factors showed the highest frequency (30.5%). Opening and closing (43.8%) had the highest frequency among factors that increased pain, and the rest (6.6%) had the highest frequency among the factors that reduced pain. Most patients experienced unilateral pain over the masseter area. Most patients reported their pain intensity to be greater than 7 in the verbal analog scale (VAS). The most common symptom associated with pain was joint noise (37.1%). Conclusion: A ten-year retrospective evaluation of patient files showed that more than half of the patients with chronic orofacial pain had TMD.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.217-225
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• 2009

As Pain is a comprehensive, biopsy chosocial phenomenon, improved understanding and successful management of pain need assessment of health-related quality of life and psychological states. The purpose of this study was to evaluate pain severity and pain-related interference to daily lives for patients with non-dental, orofacial pain(OFP) and a possible relation of OFP with psychological morbidity. Relation with such factors as gender, age, pain duration and diagnosis was also assessed. Inclusion criteria was all new patients with non-dental OFP attending the oral medicine.orofacial pain clinic of Dankook University Dental Hospital over 3 months' period, who completed the questionnaires of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Prior to the first consultation, the patients were asked to fill out the questionnaire in the waiting room and were diagnosed through consultation and clinical examination. Total subjects were 163 with M:F ratio of 1:1.5 and mean age of 34.6${\pm}$17.7 years. Mean duration of pain was 13.3${\pm}$26.2 months and all patients were divided into; Trigeminal Neuralgia group (TN, N=8), Neuropathic Pain group (NeP, N=9), Persistent Idiopathic Facial Pain group (PIFP, N=8), and Temporomandibular Disorders group (TMD, N=138), subdivided into muscle problem (TMD-m, N=73), joint problem (TMD-j, N=24) and muscle-joint combined problem (TMD-c, N=41). OFP patients showed moderate pain severity and moderate pain-related interference. There was no gender difference in overall pain severity and interference and levels of anxiety and depression. Elderly patients aged ${\geq}$ 60 years showed higher pain severity (p<0.05). Patients with chronic pain ${\geq}$ 3 months reported more increased level of anxiety and depression than those with acute pain (p<0.05). Compared to TMD patients, patients with TN, NeP and PIFP suffered from higher level of pain and pain-related interference and reported higher level of anxiety and depression (p<0.05). Pain interference was closely correlated with their pain severity and with psychometric properties such as anxiety and depression. Pain severity was weakly correlated with levels of anxiety and depression. The results suggest a need for psychosocial assessment and support for successful management of OFP in addition to control of pain itself.