Temporomandibular treatments are significantly efficient in improving otologic symptoms.

Symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) could be present as otologic symptoms like earache and dizziness in some patients. In most cases, these symptoms are not recognized because otolaryngologists fail to diagnose TMD as a source of the problem. This investigation was conducted to evaluate the effect of TMD treatments on the otologic symptoms which after taking history and clinical examinations seemed to be related to TMD. In the present study, the patients who were complaining of otalgia, ear fullness, tinnitus, hearing loss, and dizziness were evaluated by an ear fellow. Forty patients who had no known otologic or other primary causes to explain their symptoms, were referred to the orofacial pain clinic with the possible diagnosis of TMD. If the diagnosis was confirmed by an orofacial pain specialist, a combination of TMD treatments was administered to each case and the patients were followed up. The results showed that following implementation of treatment protocols for TMD, more than 50% of the patients reported complete or partial recovery in the second follow-up (p < 0.05). The most common otologic symptom of the referred cases was earache, and the most common associated complaint was neck pain. All the patients had one or more parafunctional habits. This study showed that TMD treatments were significantly efficient in improving otologic symptoms partially or completely and the authors concluded that for the patients with otolaryngologic unexplained symptoms, an overhaul examination is needed to assess TMD as a possible cause of the patient complaint. It is recommended that in cases with unexplained otologic symptoms, otolaryngologists care more about the neck trigger points (TP) and ask about the patient's parafunctional habits. Otolaryngologists and dentists need to be aware of the risk of developing otologic symptoms caused by these habits or cervical TPs.

The effect of Camellia Sinensis (green tea) mouthwash on plaque-induced gingivitis: a single-blinded randomized controlled clinical trial.

UNLABELLED: Background and the purpose of the StudyComplementary medicine received high attention during last decades. We aimed to assess the efficacy of Green tea mouthwash on plaque-induced gingivitis as the most common form of periodontal disease. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We designed a single blinded placebo controlled clinical trial. High school female students with chronic generalized plaque-induced gingivitis were distributed to receive either 5 ml of Green tea 5% two times/day or normal saline with the same dosage. Gingival index (Sillness & Loe), plaque index (Sillness & Loe) and bleeding index (Barnett) were recorded at baseline and five consecutive weeks. Comparisons were made by a general linear model, repeated measure ANOVA and a Bonferroni test applied for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: Twenty five students were recruited in each arm of the study. A significant improvement was observed in all periodontal indices during the study (P < 0.001). Two groups were contrasted by changing patterns of alteration of indices (P < 0.05). Although total amount of improvement was higher in mouthwash group, the differences did not reach a statistically significant level (P > 0.05, observed power for GI: 0.09, PI: 0.11 and BI: 0.07). CONCLUSION: Green tea mouthwash may be a safe and feasible adjunct treatment for inflammatory periodontal diseases. A future larger scale study is warranted for better evaluating the effect of green tea.