Clinical and Radiological Evaluation of Elongated Styloid Process in Patients with Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

Abstract

Objectives: Clinical findings of elongated styloid process (SP) can easily be confused with clinical symptoms associated with temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD). This study aims to investigate the presence of elongated SP in patients with TMD.Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was performed on the digital panoramic radiographs of 300 patients between 14-68 years of age, where the study group consisted of 150 (300 SP) patients diagnosed with TMD and the control group consisted of 150 (300 SP) individuals without TMD. 224 of the patients were female and 76 were male. SP measurement was performed by a physician with radiography experience. The measurement values higher than 30 mm were accepted as elongated SP.Results: There was a significant difference between the TMD group and the control group in terms of SP length (p<0.05). While 62% of the patients with TMD had elongated SP, this rate was 38% in the control group.Conclusions: Elongated SP rate was higher in patients with TMD. Since TMD and Eagle syndrome have similar clinical findings, physicians should consider the differential diagnosis of patients with TMD compared to Eagle's syndrome.