[Character and temperament dimensions of patients with temporomandibular disorder]

The nature of the relationship between personality and temporomandibular disorder is an important, but still unexplored question. The objective of this study was to assess the personality profile of a sample of patients with temporomandibular disorder using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI).

The study included 81 patients [17 male (21%) and 64 female (79%)] with temporomandibular disorder and 80 healthy control subjects [15 male (18.75%) and 65 female (81.25%)]. A Turkish version of TCI was used for personality self-assessment. The data were evaluated with multivariate analyses of variance.

Multivariate analyses of variance showed that the temperamental dimension, novelty seeking (F= 8.61, P= 0.004), was associated with temporomandibular disorder. Higher novelty seeking is thought to be linked to higher impulsiveness, exploratory excitability, and disorderliness. Also, there were significant differences between patients and healthy subjects on fatigability, purposefulness, compassion, and principled subscales of TCI. Gender differences were also found for different temperament and character dimensions. Women scored significantly higher on the self-directedness dimension, whereas male patients with temporomandibular disorder had significantly higher scores on the temperamental dimension of harm avoidance and its sub-dimension, shyness.

Our study offers clinical evidence of the relationship between temporomandibular disorder and the personality profile of a high level of novelty seeking, which is considered to be associated with cluster B personality disorders. Assessing personality in patients with temporomandibular disorder should be considered while implementing treatment.