Prevalence of TMD symptoms in Turkish migrants and re-settlers from the former Soviet Union in comparison to a German group.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptoms among Turks and re-settlers with German origin from Russia and to compare those findings with a German group from the same area.


METHODS
Sixty-nine Turkish migrants, 50 re-settlers, and 96 Germans were clinically examined according to a short version of the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC/TMD) protocol. The subjects participated in a feasibility study of the German National Cohort and were recruited from the study center Heidelberg/Mannheim of the cluster Baden-Württemberg/Saarland.


RESULTS
Significant differences emerged between the three ethnic groups for unassisted opening without pain, maximum unassisted opening, and overbite, with highest values for the German group. No significant differences were found for muscle pain on palpation or muscle and joint pain during opening.


CONCLUSIONS
As the authors identified significant differences between the different ethnic groups for metric measurements, it might be beneficial to include questions concerning the ethnicity to the German version of the RDC/TMD for further research, to make the results more comparable.
a University of Heidelberg , Department of Orthodontics , Heidelberg , Germany.
Katja
K
Diercke
b Institute of Public Health , University of Heidelberg , Germany.
Heiko
H
Zimmermann
c Department of Prosthodontics , Heidelberg , Germany.
Daniel
D
Hellmann
d Department of Conservative Dentistry, Section of Periodontology , Heidelberg , Germany.
Ti-Sun
TS
Kim
e Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics , Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin , Berlin , Germany.
Julia
J
Fricke
f Department of Periodontology , University Hospital of Muenster , Muenster , Germany.
Nihad
N
El Sayed
f Department of Periodontology , University Hospital of Muenster , Muenster , Germany.
Daniel
D
Hagenfeld
g Department of Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology , Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich , München Germany.
Jan
J
Kühnisch
c Department of Prosthodontics , Heidelberg , Germany.
Marc
M
Schmitter
h Institute of Public Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelb8erg, Germany and Institute of Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf , Hamburg , Germany.
Heiko
H
Becher
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057887:Overbite / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D013706:Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology*; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014421:Turkey / Q000208:ethnology; D014586:USSR / Q000208:ethnology
Clinical examination; Ethnicity; Joint pain; Muscle pain; Temporomandibular disorder