A longitudinal follow-up of the effect of occlusal adjustment in patients with craniomandibular disorders.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of occlusal adjustment in a prospective longitudinal study. Fifty selected patients with craniomandibular disorders (CMD) including headaches were randomly assigned to a treatment (T) or a control (C) group. Both groups received counselling and occlusal adjustment was performed in T group. Subjective symptoms and clinical findings were registered before and 2 years after treatment. At a follow-up 48% in the T group and 84% in the C group had demanded rescue treatment. Eleven patients in the T group (48%) and 3 patients in the C group (13%) without rescue treatment, reported overall subjective improvement. No difference was found between the groups regarding overall intensity of pain expressed by the visual analogue scale. When all kinds of treatment were taken into account, 70% and 79% of the patients in the T and C group reported overall subjective improvement at follow-up. The conclusions from this study were that in a two-year perspective only single patients improved from counselling alone. A few more patients improved if one more kind of treatment, for example occlusal adjustment, was added to the initial counselling, but the majority of the patients required a comprehensive treatment program.
Vallon
D
D
Department of Stomatognathic Physiology, Faculty of Odontology, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
Nilner
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D017271:Craniomandibular Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019558:Occlusal Adjustment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric