The effect of physiotherapy on post-temporomandibular joint surgery patients

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of physiotherapy on rehabilitation of patients who had temporomandibular joint (TMJ) surgery. The treatment group consisted of 22 post-surgical patients who were treated with physiotherapy, and the non-treatment group consisted of 22 post-surgical patients who received no physiotherapy. The assessment tools were made using visual analogue scale (VAS) and craniomandibular index (CMI) which consisted of dysfunction index (DI) and palpation index (PI). All patients received follow-up for 7 months. The subjects were measured three times; before surgery, 6 weeks after surgery and 7 months after surgery. On the 6 week post-surgery assessment, DI and total CMI scores of the treatment group were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those of the non-treatment group. On the assessment performed 7 months after surgery, all variables were significantly lower (P < 0.05) for the treatment group compared with those of the non-treatment group. The findings of the study indicate that physiotherapy has a positive effect in relieving pain and restoring TMJ function after surgery.