The Incidence of Signs and Symptoms of Temporomandibular Disorders Following Third Molar Surgery

Abstract

Third molar surgery, a common dental procedure in Dental Faculty University Malaya, is known to pose many possible complications, one of which is temporomandibular disorder (TMD); a chronic pain concerning the joint apparatus, masticatory musculature and the associated muscle of head and neck region. This research aims (i) to examine the signs and symptoms of TMD following third molar surgery (ii) to study the surgical components of third molar surgery that contribute to the development of TMD (iii) to compare incidence of TMD between operative and non-operative group six months after third molar surgery. A descriptive longitudinal cohort study was conducted by recruiting twenty-two patients as subjects of an operative group, and twenty patients as subjects of a non-operative group. The operative group were examined at baseline, one week, one month, three months and six months after surgery. Each patient underwent a series of Diagnostic Criteria of TMD DC/TMD examination and history questionnaire. In the operative group, we found (i) increased incidence of trismus (92%), myofascial pain (69%) and clicking (77%) of the patient group at one week review (ii) two new incidences of signs and symptoms of TMD at final review (iii) no significant relationship between operator qualification to development of TMD (iv) no association between degree of impaction to development of TMD (v) no relationship between duration of procedures to development of TMD (vi) there is a significant difference in signs and symptoms of TMD between operative group and control group (p<0.005).