Awareness of the Role of Physiotherapy in Temporomandibular Disorders amongst DentistsAwareness of the Role of Physiotherapy in Temporomandibular Disorders amongst Dentists

Abstract

Purpose: Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) is a complex disorder usually characterized by pain,crepitus and reduced movement which may be caused due to unbalanced activity, muscular spasm, oroveruse of the jaw muscles. Awareness among dentists in and around Mumbai and Navi-Mumbai about PT’srole for TMD treatment was found to be unknown. Therefore, the study aimed at finding out the awarenessof physiotherapy management of TMD amongst dentists.Method: This was a cross-sectional study including 100 dentists done over a period of 6 months. Thedata was collected from various private setups and hospitals in and around Mumbai and Navi-Mumbai. Aconsent form and a self-prepared validated questionnaire was used. The data was statistically analysed anddescriptive analysis was done with the help of pie charts and bar diagrams.Results: In our study 89% of the dentists considered physiotherapy as a treatment option for TMD. However,49% of the dentists refer people with TMD to physiotherapists. Fewer dentists were aware that physiotherapyhelps in improving strength and coordination of jaw muscles while greater number of dentists were awarethat physiotherapy also helps in pain relief, relaxation, minimization of stiffness and restoration of normalmobility and function.Conclusions: Although a large percentage of dentists that completed the survey were aware of the role of PTin treating people with TMD, the rate of referral was low. Therefore, there is a need to educate the dentistsabout the role of physiotherapy in treating people with TMD, to encourage them to refer people with TMDand thereby promote multidisciplinary rehabilitation of this complex disorder.