Frequency Of Neck Disability Among Patients Wearing Complete Dentures

BACKGROUND: Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is a collective terminology embracing a number of medical issues, which involve the masticatory musculature, the temporomandibular joint or both. Complete denture wearing most often not only effects TMJ but also effects the neck and its functionality. OBJECTIVETo assess the frequency and level of Neck disability among patients wearing complete dentures. METHODSIn this study a total of 100 complete denture wearing patients participated. Patients with any previous maxillofacial injury, trauma and below the age of 40 were excluded. Simple convenient sampling was used to collect all the data. Results: A total of 100 complete denture wearing patients participated in this study. The study included 50(50%) male and 50(50%) female with and average mean age of 57.68. RESULTResults showed 11(11%) experienced moderate recurring pain at neck movement, 10(10%) needed help every day in most aspects of self-care, 6(6%) patients wearing full dentures suffered from moderate neck pain or disability. CONCLUSIONThe study concluded that frequency and level of Neck Pain was variable among patients wearing complete dentures. Many of the full denture wearing patients experienced more than one clinical symptoms of Neck Disability.