Correlations between masticatory muscle activity, quality of life, and dysfunction severity in women with chronic temporomandibular disorder

Abstract

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Assessing the possible interactions between the activity of masticatory muscles and quality of life and severity of the temporomandibular disorder can help clarify how changes in muscle activity can be associated with a chronic temporomandibular disorder in women. This study aimed to investigate the correlations between masticatory electrical activity during mandibular resting, maximum voluntary contraction, the severity of the temporomandibular disorder, and quality of life in women with chronic temporomandibular disorder and to compare these parameters with healthy asymptomatic controls. METHODS: Sixty women, 30 with temporomandibular disorder and 30 asymptomatic, participated in this case-control observational study. Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorder was used to identify the presence or absence of temporomandibular disorder. The SF-36 questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life in participants, and ProTMDmulti-part-II was applied to assess the severity of signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorder. RESULTS: During jaw clenching, the masticatory activity of the right temporal and left masseter muscles, the symmetry of the masseter muscles, and anteroposterior coefficient were significantly smaller in the temporomandibular disorder group than in the asymptomatic group. Masticatory activity at rest, signs and symptoms of chronic temporomandibular disorder, and impairment of the quality of life were correlated using Spearman coefficient (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results contribute to findings on the associations between the masticatory activity in chronic signs and symptoms of the temporomandibular disorder, impairment in quality of life, and differences in the masticatory activity during clenching in patients with temporomandibular disorder and controls.