Incidence of Temporomandibular Disorders (TMDs) in Turkish Dental Students

Objectives: The symptoms of TMDs may be determined with several tools. Among these, questionnaires have several advantages on the basis of epidemiological and clinical studies. An objective of this study was to determine an incidence, the type and frequency of symptoms associated with TMDs in Turkish dental students with a questionnaire. Methods: One-hundred sixty-six (89 female, 77 male) dental students (mean-age:21.73±1.92 years), who were undergoing dental education at the Suleyman Demirel University Faculty of Dentistry during 2003-2004, were recruited to this study. The students were asked to complete 82-items questionnaire. None of the students declined to participate. A descriptive statistics (students’ t-test, frequencies and chi-square) was performed for analysis of the data using SPSS. Results: The results revealed that 41.6% of the students had pain around the orofacial region. The orofacial pain affected their work (1.99±2.25), social-family (1.93±2.65) and daily (2.07±2.57) activities (Visual Analog Scale, range:1-10). The symptoms of the TMD were as follows: clicking (28.9%), crepitus (20.5%), bruxism (39.8%), difficulty in biting (12.0%) and in mouth opening in the morning (10.2%) (“yes or no” answers). 15.1% of the students experienced pain first time following an accident or hit to the orofacial region. 10.2% had to work besides their education. Only, the tendency of criying (x2:37.353, p:0.000), to feel weak (x2:14.066, p:0.007), locking of the jaw (x2:5,451, p:0.02) and difficulty in smiling (x2:5.386, p:0.02) were significantly higher in female students than male students. Conclusion: The questionnaire may be used as a screening tool for TMDs at the clinical settings.