Management of Pain Symptoms and Contractures in Patients with Chronic Temporomandibular Disorders and Psychosocial Comorbidities Using Gaalas Phototherapy

Abstract The most important clinical indicators of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are pain in the temporomandibular joints, masticatory and cervical muscles, as well as a reduction in the opening capacity of the mouth. Psychosocial factors have a significant impact in the persistence of the disease and should be taken in consideration in the treatment plan. The aim of the present study was to perform clinical and statistical evaluation on the management of pain symptoms and overcome of pronounced arthro- and myogenic mandibular contractures in GAD 7 positive patients with chronic temporomandibular disorders using combined irradiation with infrared gallium-aluminum-arsenide laser (785 nm), superluminescent visible red (633 nm) and infrared (880 nm) light emitting devices. Materials and methods. The study included 62 individuals with various types of temporomandibular disorders, which were established using the latest diagnostic criteria – DC/TMD, 2014, revision 2020. Fifteen out of 62 patients responded positively to the GAD 7 questionnaire, which indicates depression and/or anxiety. In 8 out of these 15 cases, the presence of pain symptoms, mandibular contractures and psychosocial comorbidities exceeded 6 months. According to DC/TMD standards, these are patients with chronic temporomandibular disorders and they were the target group for our study. The average interincisal distance from this eight-member group was 27.62 mm (SD – 8.17). Results. The Student t-test for the dependent samples showed a significant reduction in VAS pain scores and an increased interincisal distance after phototherapy procedures. Conclusions. Combined phototherapy has proven to be an effective treatment of mandibular contractures, joint and muscle pain in TMD patients with psychosocial comorbid conditions.