Abstract
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-invasive treatment modality for acute and chronic pain. However, little information for muscle activity is available on the immediate effects of TENS in masticatory muscle pain related to temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). The present study aimed to evaluate the immediate effects of TENS treatment on TMD-related muscle pain. Thirty-six patients with TMD-related muscle pain and 39 healthy subjects served as TMD and control groups, respectively. For objective evaluations, maximum mouth opening, and maximum bite force were measured before and after TENS. The pain intensity was assessed according to a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS). TENS was applied to painful muscles for 20 min with frequencies of 100–200 Hz. The treatment outcome was evaluated using Global Rating of Change (GRC) scales. In the TMD group, VAS values significantly decreased after TENS. Although there was significant increase in the maximum mouth opening after TENS for only TMD group, the maximum bite force of both groups was significantly greater after TENS. According to GRC scales, one patient with TMD-related muscle pain expressed negative feelings after TENS. Conclusively, TENS treatment might quickly relieve pain in masticatory muscles and improve masticatory functions in patients with TMD-related muscle pain.
Highlights
In the field of clinical dentistry, temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) is one of the major diseases
The present study aimed to evaluate the immediate effects of Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) treatment in TMD patients with masticatory muscle pain and whether TENS treatment affected masseter muscle activity
The TMD group consisted of 9 males and 27 females ranging in age from 19 to 82 years
Summary
In the field of clinical dentistry, temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) is one of the major diseases. In a large study population, tenderness of masticatory muscles and temporomandibular joints was found in 15% and 5%, respectively [8], but these symptoms are self-reported by about 4% and 6–8%, respectively [9,10] These results suggest that patients might not have so bothersome muscular tenderness but muscular clinical symptoms potentially. This masticatory muscle tenderness or muscle pain is characterized by a long-lasting dull ache or fatigue localized in the jaw and temporal muscles due to muscular overload, e.g., by daytime teeth-clenching or sleep bruxism [11,12]. Since masticatory muscle pain and masticatory dysfunction affect the oral health-related quality of life [14], dental clinicians should remove TMD pain quickly from the patients, resulting in an increase of masticatory function, because long duration of pain causes reduction of quality of life [15]
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