title: Crepitation and clicking as signs of TMD in preschool children.
abstract: Children [N = 540, age 5.1 +/- 0.72 (SD)], were tested for association between temporomandibular (TM) joint sounds and symptoms of TM disorder (TMD). The prevalence of TMJ sounds as found by auscultation and confirmed by self-report was 16.7%. There was significant association after Bonferroni correction between the presence of TM joint sounds, as reported by the children, and all but one of the eleven pain/dysfunction variables. There was significant association also between crepitation as heard at auscultation and palpation tenderness in the TMJ and masseter areas (p < 0.001), but not between clicking and any of the TMD variables. Agreement between subjects and examiners regarding the presence of TMJ sounds was poor (kappa = 0.097). The results indicate that joint sounds and TMD symptoms are common already in small children and thus demonstrate a possible early onset of TMD. Patients' own reports of TMJ sounds may have more clinical relevance than auscultation findings.
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48103, USA. sew@umich.edu
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Widmalm
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Christiansen
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gunn
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D001314:Auscultation; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D010173:Palpation; D013016:Sound; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology