Abstract
We evaluated the clinical, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and psychological characteristics of adolescents with temporomandibular disorder (TMD) and compared facial macrotrauma effects between young and older adolescents. This case–control study included 70 randomly selected patients (35 young adolescents aged 12–16 years and 35 older adolescents aged 17–19 years) who had been diagnosed with TMD. Each age group was further subdivided according to the presence (T1) or absence (T0) of a macrotrauma history. All patients completed questionnaires on temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and dysfunction. We analyzed TMD severity symptoms using TMD-related indexes and the physical changes of TMJ using TMJ MR images. The Symptom Checklist-90-Revised was used to evaluate the patients’ psychological status. Anterior disc displacement was the most frequently observed MRI finding, occurring in a significant proportion of young (47 joints, 67.1%) and older adolescents (40 joints, 57.1%). The prevalence of all the MRI findings (disc displacement, disc deformity, condylar degeneration, and effusion) did not differ between the T0 and T1 subgroups among young and older adolescents. Conversely, the psychological factors differed significantly between the subgroups. Among young adolescents, the mean scores of somatization, obsessive-compulsiveness, hostility, phobic ideation, and psychosis were significantly higher in the T1 subgroup than in the T0 subgroup (all p < 0.05). Furthermore, these increased psychological scores positively correlated with TMD indexes. Clinicians should consider that a weakened psychological status could be an aggravating factor in young adolescents with TMD and should consider the implications in future assessment of such patients.
Highlights
Www.nature.com/scientificreports distinct period covering the transition from childhood to adulthood, and historically, this typically spans from 12 to 19 years of age[9,10]
Macrotrauma plays an important role in the development, maintenance, and worsening of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptoms, it has rarely been investigated in adolescents with TMD
As compared to our previous results[31], it is reasonable to assume that these levels are affected by both TMD status and body growth, as only the CMO value is smaller in young adolescents than in adults with TMD (32.31 ± 10.42 vs. 34.56 ± 11.20 mm, p = 0.003)
Summary
Www.nature.com/scientificreports distinct period covering the transition from childhood to adulthood, and historically, this typically spans from 12 to 19 years of age[9,10]. Somatic complaints and headache have been strongly associated with TMD pain in a previous study of a population-based sample of 12- to 19-year-olds[10]. In previous studies on adult patients with TMD, anxiety correlated with clinical signs of TMD and muscle tenderness[21]. In previous MRI studies, anterior disc displacement was most prevalent in adolescents with TMD, while bone changes were more prevalent in the elderly[25,26]. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical, MRI, and psychological characteristics of TMD signs and symptoms, and their relationships in adolescents, as well as to compare these findings between young and older adolescent patients, in the context of the relevant available literature. We aimed to determine whether psychological impairments generally considered predictive of TMD are associated with increased pain intensity and a history of trauma
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