Frequency of internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint in elderly individuals.
Elderly patients suffer from various systemic diseases and are likely to neglect their problems with functional disorders in the masticatory system, which are of crucial importance for successful prosthetic treatment. The purpose of the study was to establish the frequency of symptoms, clinical signs and tissue-specific diagnoses of internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint in elderly subjects and their relation with respect to gender and type of prosthetic replacement. The study was conducted on 96 subjects, 48 complete denture wearers and 48 removable partial denture wearers, whose average age was 75.8 years. The diagnostic procedure used in this study was manual functional analysis consisting of specific techniques of dynamic compressions and translations in diagnosing internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint. Chi-square test for independent samples was used for statistical analysis of the results. The symptoms of internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint were found in 9.3% of the subjects, and tissue-specific diagnoses were established in 52.1% of the subjects. The most common diagnoses were osteoarthrosis, total disk displacement with stable reposition and partial anterolateral disk displacement. No statistically significant differences in the frequency of symptoms, clinical signs and tissue-specific diagnoses were found between genders (P>.05) and complete and removable partial denture wearers (P>.05). The frequency of subjective symptoms of internal derangement in the temporomandibular joint of elderly subjects was low in relation to the frequency of intracapsular tissue-specific diagnoses.
Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Zagreb, Gunduliceva 5, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia. niksa.dulcic@zg.hinet.hr
Niksa
N
Dulcić
J
J
Pandurić
S
S
Kraljević
T
T
Badel
R
R
Celić
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003778:Dentures / Q000009:adverse effects; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D013704:Temporomandibular Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology