Advice for Dentists from Temporomandibular Disorder Patients: A Phenomenological Study

Despite increased efforts to improve the health of those with temporomandibular disorder (TMD), the focus remains on medical knowledge rather than patients' opinions and needs regarding quality of treatment and pain management.

We aimed to identify what TMD patients want their dentists to know and do.

Open-ended questions were used to understand the perspectives of 6 TMD patients. Two researchers examined the transcripts using interpretive phenomenological analysis.

TMD participants consistently stressed the need for their dentists to listen and provide them with more advice and information to cope with TMD conditions. They also noted the need for dentists to be skilled in communications, particularly maintaining respectful doctor-patient relations and interpersonal communication.

Health care providers must acquire practical communication skills and expand their knowledge of TMDs to better support their patients. Improving relations between doctors and their TMD patients could result in positive health outcomes. The implications of this study will be to decrease medical crises and expensive interventions, provide better assistance to patients and refer them to other necessary health care professionals, an approach that will lead to lower care costs, more satisfaction and higher quality of life.