Prevalence of Symptoms of Temporomandibular Joint Disorder in Lattakia-Syria

Abstract

The research aims to study the prevalence of the symptoms of TMJ disorder, TemporoMandibular Joint Disorder (TMJD), in Lattakia province – Syria. The research tool used is a form fora group of thoughtful questions related to the symptoms of TMJD. 450 questionnaire forms have been randomly distributed, by hand, to people in the ages of 15-60 years old, in different areas of the city. This allowed us to identify the prevalence of each symptom of TMJ disorders among each age group. We reached a conclusion that states that the prevalence of TMJD symptoms was the largest in males than females at a rate of 34.92%. Percentages showed a significant increase in the males category compared to a past research study done by the researcher Issa, his research showed a rate of 16% prevalence in males. This is attributable perhaps to the evolution of the predisposing conditions for the occurrence of such disorders. The most symptoms prevalent, in order, were the following: the inability to close the jaw after it opened, pain in the ear, hear sounds articular clicking and crepitation, pain when opening or wide yawn, pain of joints when chewing, the pain accompanying sounds, difficulty opening the mouth, pain around the jaws, deviation of the lower jaw.