Saxophone/Clarinet Playing Duration  as a Risk Factor of TMD

Background: Joint pain or myofascial pain known as Musculoskeletal Injury (MSI) can be interpreted as signs of temporomandibular disorder (TMD). Studies have shown that gender, direct or indirect trauma, chewing on one side, clenching, and bad habits are considered as risk factors of TMD. One of the communities that is prone to MSI is musicians especially saxophonists and clarinetists. However, only few studies have examined the relationship between occurrence of TMD and the duration of playing the saxophone or clarinet as well as the risk factors as mentioned above. Objectives: To identify the correlation between risk factors and playing duration of saxophone and clarinet with the occurrence of TMD using Temporomandibular Disorder Diagnostic Index (TMD-DI). Material and Methods: A cross sectional study using questionnaires which focused on the aforementioned risk factors, involving 30 respondents, 21 male (70%) and 9 female (30%). Among the respondents, 53% were saxophonist while the rest are clarinettist with mean age of 26.3 ± 2,292 years old. Duration of instrument usage ranged from 5 – 3600 minutes/day (mean 185.50 ± 649, 004 minutes/day, median 32,50 minutes/day).Results: There is no correlation between risk factor and the occurrence of TMD. However, results from ROC curve showed that playing either saxophone or clarinet longer than 32,5 minutes per day could be associated with the occurrence of TMD (p=0,011). Conclusions: Playing the saxophone or clarinet more than 32,5 minutes per day is an independent risk factor of TMD.