Pain assessment in temporomandibular disorders

Pain characteristics, symptoms, medication use, demographic and psychological variables were assessed in 85 patients diagnosed with temporomandibular (TM) disorders. Results showed that 46 myofascial pain dysfunction (MPD) patients responded differently from 39 temporomandibular joint (TMJ) patients for numerous measures of pain-related variables. MPD patients perceived more generalized facial pain of longer duration and were able to identify more specific symptoms associated with their pain. The only symptom variable rated higher by TMJ patients was the presence of bothersome joint noise. When asked to rate their pain at its worse, the unpleasantness of pain was significantly higher in MPD patients than reported by TMJ patients. MPD patients might be considered more psychologically distressed than TMJ patients, as shown by their higher ratings for anxiety and inability to endure the pain. Although both types of pain patients took the same categories of medications, MPD patients consumed a larger total number. Such findings suggest that the prognosis of the dysfunction for MPD patients would be less favorable than for TMJ patients.