Auricular acupuncture in TMD - A sham-controlled, randomized, clinical trial.

This study evaluated the effect of auricular acupuncture (AA) on physical (PA) and emotional (EA) aspects of patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) and compared the effect of AA with those of Sham and occlusal splints (OS). In accordance with the CONSORT guidelines, patients with TMDs were evaluated by axes I and II of the RDC-TMD. The patients were allocated among three groups: OS, Sham and AA; and followed for 8 weeks. Both intragroup and intergroup evaluation for quantitative variables were analyzed with ANOVA, one-way, followed by the Tukey test. Qualitative variables were analyzed with the Kruskal-Wallis, and Dunn tests (intergroup evaluation) and for intragroup analyses, the Friedman and Wilcoxon tests were applied. At the end of the experiment, the chi-squared test was applied to compare the three groups with respect to the number of variables that had shown improved scores. The adopted level of significance for all tests was α = 5%. Intragroup analysis showed that, in the Sham group, no improvement in performance was seen in either EA and significant was improvements in 5 variables for 9 for PA, while in the AA group, significant improvements were observed in 2 variables for EA and in 9 for PA. In the OS group at the end of this study, significant improvements were observed in 8 and 8 variables for EA and PA, respectively. The analysis of therapies used revealed that the number of variables exhibiting significantly improved outcomes after treatment was similar between the AA and OS groups, whereas the sham group showed statistically significant differences when compared with the other two groups. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that AA applied at a specific TMJ ear point was able to bring about improvements in patients with TMDs, with outcomes similar to those in patients treated with an OS. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: RBR-69ynnw (Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials).

Effects of low-power laser auriculotherapy on the physical and emotional aspects in patients with temporomandibular disorders: A blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the effects of low-power laser auriculotherapy (LA) on the physical and emotional symptoms of patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), in comparison with occlusal splints (OS). DESIGN: Randomized, blinded, prospective, non-inferiority clinical trial. INTERVENTIONS: The patients received OS (control group) or LA (experimental group). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Following the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines, patients with TMD were evaluated by using axes I and II of the Research Diagnostic Criteria for RDC-TMD. Both intra- and intergroup quantitative variables were analyzed with ANOVA (p < 0.05), while qualitative variables were analyzed with the Kruskal-Wallis (intergroup evaluations; p < 0.05) or Mann-Whitney tests (intragroup analyses; p < 0.05). RESULTS: OS improved five physical symptoms of TMD (pain in the right temporal muscle, right and left masseter muscles, left joint, and left intraoral region), while LA improved six (jaw functioning; pain in left masseter muscle, right and left joints, and right and left intraoral regions). Similarly, OS improved seven emotional symptoms (degree of depression, degree of non-specific physical symptoms, excluding pain, degree of non-specific physical symptoms including pain, average pain value in the past 6 months, presence of depression, intensity and characteristics of pain, non-specific physical symptoms including pain), while LA improved five (degree of non-specific physical symptoms including pain, presence of depression, intensity and characteristics of pain, non-specific physical symptoms including pain, non-specific physical symptoms excluding pain). CONCLUSION: LA improved the physical and emotional symptoms of TMD, with results similar to OS. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: For the physical and emotional symptoms associated with TMD, LA showed similar outcomes as OS.