Abstract
Objective:The purpose of the present pilot study was to describe pain complaints of TMD patients and cervical spine dysfunction.Methods:Fourteen women with myogenous TMD, cervical motion limitation and rotation of at least one of the three first cervical vertebrae evidenced by radiographic examination participated in this study. The multidimensional pain evaluation was accomplished by a Brazilian version of the McGill Pain Questionnaire.Results:The results showed that the most painful body site mentioned was cervical spine, followed by scapular region and temporomandibular joint. More than half of the volunteers reported temporal pain pattern as rhythmic, periodic and, or still, intermittent. The majority of the patients classified the pain intensity assessed at the moment of the evaluation as mild to discomforting. Absolute agreement was not observed among volunteers regarding word dimensions used to describe their pain, although a great number of patients chose the descriptor related to tension as the better expression to describe their painful complaint.Conclusion:Pain characteristics of TMD patients with cervical spine dysfunction showed cervical spine as a common painful region reported and words related to affective and emotional dimensions of pain perception can be used by these patients to qualify their pain complain.
Highlights
Today it is known that Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) etiology is multifactorial
Oliveira et al.[11], using a Brazilian version of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (Br-McGill pain questionnaire (MPQ))[12], evaluated 23 TMD patients previously classified by application of the severity clinical index and reported that severe TMD patients indicated the TMJ as the main area of pain, while moderate TMD patients reported the cervical spine as main painful area
The most frequently reported pain area indicated by TMD patients with cervical vertebral rotation was the cervical spine (92.85%), followed by the scapular region (50%)
Summary
Today it is known that Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) etiology is multifactorial. It may be related to an imbalance among occlusal, anatomical, psychological and neuromuscular factors, promoting neck and head structural dysfunction[1]. The McGill pain questionnaire (MPQ) is an instrument that allows evaluation of multidimensional aspects of pain features such as temporal pattern, localization and intensity, and is designed with qualitative and quantitative descriptors to assess sensorial, affective, subjective and mixed pain dimensions. This questionnaire has been shown to be effective in studies involving TMD patients[8,9,10], but it has been minimally applied in Brazilian population studies. Postural alterations, as forward head posture and cervical curvature rectification, have been found in TMD patients[13]
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