Prevalence and Severity of Temporomandibular Disorders in Medical/Dental Undergraduate Students

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this epidemiological study was to assess the prevalence and severity of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in undergraduate students at CMH Lahore Medical College (CMH-LMC) and Institute of Dentistry (IOD) using Fonseca’s questionnaire. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted. A questionnaire was distributed among 644 undergraduate students attending CMH Lahore Medical College (CMH-LMC) and Institute of Dentistry (IOD). The questionnaire had some general questions regarding medical and dental history requiring responses in yes or no and it had 10 specific questions regarding the temporomandibular joint with response options yes, sometimes & no which were allocated scores 10, 5 and 0 respectively. The sum of points was used to classify participants into TMD free, mild, moderate, and severe temporomandibular disorders (TMD). RESULTS: The prevalence of TMD was found to be 62%. Among all the participants almost 37% were TMD free, 43% students suffered from Mild TMD, 18% students had moderate TMD and 1% students suffered from severe TMD. CONCLUSION: The Fonseca’s questionnaire can be used as an effective tool in assessment of prevalence and severity of temporomandibular disorders. Public health services should adopt the questionnaire for screening, as information can be obtained in a relatively short period and at a low cost for a wide population. KEYWORDS: Fonseca’s questionnaire, Temporomandibular disorders, Orofacial pain, Cervicofacial muscles.