title: Physiotherapy in the treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders: a comparative study of four treatment methods.
abstract: Temporomandibular joint pain dysfunction syndrome (TMJPDS) comprises of a constellation of signs and symptoms including joint tenderness and pain on function, restricted jaw movement, clicking, jaw locking and tenderness in the muscles of mastication. Headache may also be a feature. Physiotherapy is commonly employed in the treatment of this condition but there is little published material reporting the relative efficacy of the different types of treatment currently available. Further, no attempt seems to have been made to compare the costs of physiotherapy with other forms of treatment of this disorder such as occlusal splint therapy. This paper reports a comparative evaluation of four different physiotherapy treatments and placebo in the management of TMJPDS and comments on their cost benefit aspects compared with that of splint therapy. The four methods of physiotherapy tested were short-wave diathermy, megapulse, ultrasound and soft laser. There was no statistically significant difference in success rate between any of the four tested (range 70.4-77.7%) although each individually was significantly better than placebo treatment. The time of improvement appeared to vary between the four methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Dental School, Manchester.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Quayle
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Schofield
mesh_terms: D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000379:methods*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012780:Short-Wave Therapy; D013706:Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014464:Ultrasonic Therapy