Functional disorders of the masticatory system in southwest Finland

Functional disorders of the masticatory system in a working age population in Southwest Finland were investigated both by interview (subjective symptoms) and by clinical examination (objective symptoms). The randomized material consisted of 583 subjects. 58% had subjective symptoms of dysfunction. With certain exceptions, the symptoms did not correlate with age, sex or use of removable dentures. The number of subjects with symptoms was highest in the group with the highest number of occluding teeth. 5% of subjects with subjective symptoms had received treatment. Clinical examination revealed symptoms in 41%. Sex did not correlate with the findings. The percentage of subjects with clinical symptoms was higher among those over 35 than in the younger age groups; this correlation was not, however, observed in the full denture wearers. Full denture wearers had symptoms more often than the others. Although young persons with relatively good natural dentition showed objective symptoms less often than the elderly and those wearing full dentures or with incomplete dentition, they more frequently had subjective experiences. This perhaps explains why the findings based on patient materials differ from those reported from pure population studies.