Long term effectiveness of reversible therapy in pediatric TMD patients

Objective The aim of this longitudinal prospective study is to evaluate the efficacy of reversible therapies in pediatric patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Methods 37 TMD patients and 37 healthy controls (12 children and 25 adolescents in both groups) were recruited and the first group received reversible therapy. Diagnosis were made using MRDC/TMD for children and RDC/TMD for adolescents. Results have been evaluated with a 12 years follow up. Results Comparisons between case and control groups during the study were made using Fisher exact test and chi-square test on the basis of the cells counts; α-level was set at 0.05. A significant decrease in the number of patients with maximum unassisted opening ≤ 35 mm was observed (from 11 to 0; χ2=12.92, p=0.003). Similarly, a significant decrease in the number of patients with controlateral excursion ≤ 7 mm was observed (from 9 to 1; χ2=7.40, p=0.007). Concerning passive stretch opening increase < 2 mm, a significant gain was observed (from 8 to 37 patients; χ2=13.22, p=0.0003); a significant decrease in opening click was observed (from 23 to 5 patients, p=0.01); also for clicking during lateral excursion or protrusion a significant decrease was observed (from 10 to 1 patients, p=0.01). Bruxists decrease in both groups, but no significant difference was observed between patients and controls. Conclusions The data confirm the long term effectiveness of reversible therapy in the treatment of TMD in pediatric patients. The patients vs control group did not differ significantly in signs and symptoms of TMD after treatment.