Is the temporo-mandibular pain and dysfunction syndrome a disorder of the mind?

Abstract

It was assumed that patients with temporo-mandibular pain and dysfunction syndrome (TMPDS) would represent a population whose pain resulted from their emotional state. It was anticipated in the light of existing reports in the literature that they would score like patients with anxiety neurosis or other psychiatric illness on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Crown-Crisp Experiential Index (CCEI: a measure of anxiety and other emotional characteristics). It was also anticipated that patients with facial pain associated with lesions would show evidence of similar emotional disturbance secondary to their pain. It was postulated, however, that the TMPDS patients would be separated from the others by a scale which measured their attitudes to parents and childhood experience, namely, the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). The actual comparison of TMPDS patients and patients with facial pain and lesions or pathophysiological disorders showed little evidence of neuroticism in either group; nor were the parental bonding attitudes found to be abnormal. It is questioned whether TMPDS is primarily psychological in origin.