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Published on: September 13, 2024
A retrospective analysis of the headache associated with temporomandibular joint disorder
C Ungari1, D Quarato, P Gennaro
1Department of Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Umberto I Polyclinic, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. emiliano.riccardi@hotmail.it
Background:
Headache is a common symptom, that can be extremely disabling, affecting 26 million of patients only in Italy. ICHD-II has reported two categories: "primary headaches" and "secondary headaches". Temporomandibular joint disorders can lead to a secondary headaches.
Aim:
We want to evaluate the prevalence and clinical features of headache among a series of patients having temporomandibular joint disorders and we illustrate the evolution of headache following medical treatament of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders.
Materials And Methods:
This is a retrospective study carried out on chart review of 426 consecutive patients with various degrees of temporomandibular disorders and treated with medical devices from 2007 to 2011.
Results:
Headache was reported by 73 patients (17.14%). Headache was observed in 36 of 51 patients with lock and in 32 out of 130 patients with mandibular deflections (Table I). The remaining 5 patients with headache had articular noise.
Conclusions:
Headache is not a rare finding in a population with temporomandibular dysfunctions and is more often a tension-type rather than trigeminal headache.
