Comparison of MR imaging before and after a splint therapy

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the positional change of discs in patients with anteriorly dislocated discs after a flat-type splint therapy. Methods: Twenty patients with temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) participated. In all, pretreatment magnetic resonance (MR) images showed anterior disc displacement in the intercuspal position with almost or total remission of symptoms after nocturnal splint use. Post-treatment MR images of the symptomatic side were compared with pretreatment ones. Results: All discs were still anteriorly displaced after splint therapy. Five of fifteen non-reducing joints improved to reducing ones. In four of five reducing joints, the disc condition did not change, but one worsened to non-reducing. Conclusion: In this study, a flat-type splint changed non-reducing joints to reducing ones in some patients, but did not lead to a reestablishment of a normal disc-condyle relationship in patients with anterior disc displacement. From the present results no significant association was found between the presence of TMD symptoms and the MR imaging diagnoses of anterior disc displacement. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) 15592056 from JSPS.