Effectiveness of occlusal splint therapy in the management of temporomandibular disorders: network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

A network meta-analysis (NMA) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed to assess the effectiveness of various types of occlusal splint in the management of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) and to rank them according to their effectiveness. An electronic search was undertaken to identify RCTs published until August 2019. Predictor variables were control, non-occluding splint, hard stabilization splint (HSS), soft stabilization splint (SSS), prefabricated splint, mini-anterior splint, anterior repositioning splint (ARS), and counselling therapy (CT) with or without HSS. Outcome variables were pain improvement, post-treatment pain intensity, improvement in mouth opening, and disappearance of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) sounds. Forty-eight RCTs were included. There was a significant decrease in post-treatment pain intensity in arthrogenous TMDs after ARS (low quality evidence), CT+HSS (moderate quality evidence), mini-anterior splints (very low quality evidence), and HSS alone (low quality evidence), when compared to the control. There was a significant decrease in post-treatment pain intensity in myogenous TMDs with mini-anterior splints (very low quality evidence), SSS (very low quality evidence), CT alone (moderate quality evidence), CT+HSS (moderate quality evidence), and HSS alone (moderate quality evidence), when compared to control. ARS and CT were superior in decreasing TMJ clicking than control and HSS alone. The three highest-ranked treatments for post-treatment pain reduction in arthrogenous TMDs were ARS (92%, very low quality evidence), CT+HSS (67.3%, low quality evidence), and HSS alone (52.9%, moderate quality evidence). For myogenous TMDs, they were mini-anterior splints (86.8%, low quality evidence), CT+HSS (61.2%, very low quality evidence), and HSS alone (59.7%, moderate quality evidence). Based on this NMA of 48 RCTs, there is moderate to very low quality evidence confirming the effectiveness of occlusal splint therapy in the treatment of TMDs. Multimodal therapy consisting of CT+HSS may produce the maximum improvement for TMD patients.

Allergic contact dermatitis to tea tree oil with erythema multiforme-like id reaction.

The commercial production of tea tree oil, extracted from Melaleuca alternifolia Cheel, has considerably increased over the past 15 years in response to a strong demand for natural remedies and aromatic substances. The number of case reports that describe allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) to this essential oil is also on the rise. We report an additional case of ACD to tea tree oil that presented with an extensive erythema multiforme-like reaction. A skin biopsy was performed from a targetlike lesion distant from the site of the initial dermatitis. The patient was treated with systemic and topical corticosteroids. Five months later, he was patch tested to the North American standard series, to his own tea tree oil, to a fresh batch of tea tree oil, and to some related allergens. The skin biopsy showed a spongiotic dermatitis without histological features of erythema multiforme. Patch testing elicited a 3+ reaction to old, oxidized tea tree oil, a 2+ reaction to fresh tea tree oil, a 2+ reaction to colophony, a 1+ reaction to abitol, and a 1+ reaction to balsam of Peru. We believe this is the first report of erythema multiforme-like reaction secondary to ACD from tea tree oil. Other interesting features are the stronger reaction to oxidized than to fresh tea tree oil, and concomitant reactivity to colophony, abitol, and balsam of Peru.