Tardive dyskinesia: dental prosthetic therapy

The object of this study was to demonstrate that the dental prosthetic therapy that has long been shown to be effective in the treatment of idiopathic ov Spontaneous Orofacial Dyskinesia (SOFD) was also effective in the treatment of the orofacial manifestations of Tardive Dyskinesia (TD). This preliminary work consisted of evaluation of the results of dental prosthetic treatment provided to TD patients at the University of Illinois, College of Dentistry at Chicago. All patients who presented demonstrating orofacial manifestations of TD were accepted for treatment. No standard dental appliance exists to treat either SOFD or TD. Each case requires an individualized approach. Natural teeth should be maintained because the more natural teeth present, the easier it is to fabricate a stable and effective prosthesis, and TD occurs with greater frequency and severity in edentulous than in dentulous patients. Effective treatment of such patients requires the dentist to be flexible and tailor his therapy to idiosyncrasies of each case, rather than being wedded to rigid theories of what is supposed to be appropriate treatment and appliance design. Two representative cases of treatment of TD with dental prostheses are presented. Prosthetic dental therapy should be considered in the management of the orofacial manifestations of Tardive Dyskinesia because it often is effective and has no known side effects. Since the treatment described here is prosthetic, any team approach to the treatment of TD should include an interested general dentist or prosthodonist.