The Role of Pain Inflexibility and Acceptance among Headache and Temporomandibular Disorders Patients.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and headache are complex. This study aims to assess the association between TMD, headache, and psychological dimensions such as psychological inflexibility and pain acceptance. The sample consisted of 120 participants following a non-probabilistic convenience sampling strategy through a direct invitation to the patients attending our facilities and their relatives (n = 61 diagnosed with headache, n = 34 diagnosed with TMD-headache, n = 25 control group). Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC-TMD), International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3 beta version), Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ-8), and Psychological Inflexibility in Pain Scale (PIPS) were used as assessment tools. One-way ANOVA, multiple regression analysis (MRA), and the Johnson-Neyman approach were run by IBM SPSS, version 27 (IBM® Company, Chicago, IL, USA). The significance level was 0.05. One third of our sample presented with headache with TMD. Females were predominant. Males with headache, no systemic disease, less pain severity but higher frequency, living longer with the disease and having sensitive changes, showed higher pain acceptance. When headache occurs with TMD, women with higher education, no headache family history, less pain, and no motor changes showed higher pain acceptance. Patients with both conditions are more liable to have chronic pain and pain inflexibility. Pain intensity and willingness explain 50% of the psychological inflexibility in the headache group. In our sample, individuals suffering from both conditions show greater pain inflexibility, implicating more vivid suffering experiences, leading to altered daily decisions and actions. However, further studies are needed to highlight this possible association.

The Short Form of the Fonseca Anamnestic Index for the Screening of Temporomandibular Disorders: Validity and Reliability in a Spanish-Speaking Population.

The Short Form of the Fonseca Anamnestic Index (SFAI) is a simple and quick questionnaire used for screening temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). The present study aimed to validate the Spanish version of the SFAI in patients with TMDs. The study sample comprised 112 subjects (50 TMDs and 52 controls). Test-retest reliability, factorial validity, internal consistency, concurrent validity, and the SFAI's ability to discriminate between TMDs subjects and healthy controls were analyzed using the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD protocol) as the reference. Factor analysis showed a single factor that explained 63% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha was 0.849. The reliability of the items measured with the Kappa index showed values from 0.767 to 0.888. Test-retest reliability was substantial (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.837). The total SFAI score showed a significant correlation with orofacial pain, vertigo, and neck disability measurements. For a cut-off point of >10 points, the SFAI showed a sensitivity of 78% and specificity of 78.85% at differentiating between TMDs patients and healthy subjects, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.852. The Spanish version of the SFAI is a valid and reliable instrument for diagnosing people with TMDs and shows generally good psychometric properties.

Correlation between age, gender, and the number of diagnoses of temporomandibular disorders through magnetic resonance imaging: A retrospective observational study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation among age, gender and the number of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) findings. METHODS: The records from 228 patients with TMD were analyzed for the presence of these findings: morphological changes, disc displacement with reduction (DDWR) and without reduction (DDWOR), bone edema, effusion, and avascular necrosis. Statistical analyses were conducted using multinomial regression with a 5% significance level. RESULTS: DDWR was the most frequent finding. Group 1 was composed of 94 patients (41.22%), Group 2, of 67 patients (29.38%), and Group 3, of 67 patients (29.38%). Men were significantly less likely to belong to Group 3 than women (p = 0.5517). Older patients were slightly more likely to fall in Groups 2 and 3 than in Group 1. DISCUSSION: Women were shown to be more susceptible to developing a higher number of concomitant conditions than men, and the number of findings tended to increase with age.

Chronic insomnia remitting after maxillomandibular advancement for mild obstructive sleep apnea: a case series.

BACKGROUND: Chronic insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea are both common sleep disorders. Chronic insomnia is thought to result from stress-related physiologic hyperarousal (somatic arousal) that makes it difficult for an individual to fall or stay asleep. Obstructive sleep apnea is thought to result from obstructive respiratory events causing arousals, sleep fragmentation, and recurrent oxygen desaturation. Although the two disorders seem different, they predispose to the same long-term, stress-related illnesses, and when they occur in the same individual, each affects the other's response to treatment; they interact. This report of three cases describes patients with both chronic insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea in whom the chronic insomnia remitted with no specific treatment following treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with maxillomandibular advancement. CASE PRESENTATIONS: Our three Caucasians patients each presented with severe, chronic insomnia associated with somatic arousal and fatigue occurring either alone, in association with bipolar disorder, or with temporomandibular joint syndrome. Polysomnography revealed that each patient also had mild obstructive sleep apnea, despite only one snoring audibly. One patient experienced a modest improvement in her somatic arousal, insomnia severity, and fatigue with autotitrating nasal continuous positive airway pressure, but the other two did not tolerate nasal continuous positive airway pressure. None of the patients received treatment for insomnia. All three patients subsequently underwent maxillomandibular advancement to treat mild obstructive sleep apnea and experienced prolonged, complete resolution of somatic arousal, chronic insomnia, and fatigue. The patient with bipolar disorder also experienced complete remission of his symptoms of depression during the 1 year he was followed postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: These three cases lend support to the hypothesis that chronic insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea share a pathophysiology of chronic stress. Among patients with obstructive sleep apnea, the stress response is directed at inspiratory airflow limitation during sleep (hypopnea, snoring, and inaudible fluttering of the throat). Therefore, when chronic insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea occur in one individual, aggressive treatment of obstructive sleep apnea may lead to a reduction in chronic stress that causes the patient's chronic insomnia to remit.

Correlation between clinical variables and magnetic resonance imaging findings in symptomatic patients with chronic temporomandibular articular disc displacement with reduction: A retrospective analytical study.

Objective: To correlate the clinical aspects of symptomatic patients with chronic articular disc displacement with reduction with alterations in the articular disc (AD) morphology and sagittal position. Methods: Records from 109 patients were selected that included data on AD morphology and sagittal position as determined by MRI. According to the MRI results, the sagittal position and AD morphology with opened and closed mouth were correlated with many clinical variables. Results: More than half of the patients studied were female, and the biconcave and hemiconvex morphologies were most common. Thirty-four patients (31.3%) presented with restricted maximum interincisal distance (MID). The biplanar morphology was associated with eccentric bruxism and MID (p < 0.05). Visual analog scale (VAS) scores between 2 and 7 were shown to be risk factors (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The mouth position can influence AD morphology and eccentric bruxism. VAS scores and unknown etiology were risk factors.

Evolución clínica del síndrome de disfunción dolorosa de la articulación temporomandibular con acupuntura / Clinical evolution of the pain dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint using acupuncture

Se realizó un estudio longitudinal y prospectivo con el objetivo de determinar la efectividad del tratamiento con acupuntura en el síndrome de disfunción dolorosa de la articulación temporomandibular, patología que aqueja a un por ciento elevado de la población y debido a su etiología multifactoria,l se hace difícil establecer un tratamiento. Esta investigación se desarrolló en el Hospital Universitario Abel Santamaría Cuadrado, durante el período de febrero a septiembre de 2006. La muestra estuvo constituida por 104 pacientes que asistieron a la consulta de cirugía maxilofacial, por presentar síntomas y signos propios del síndrome de disfunción dolorosa de la articulación temporomandibular. De manera aleatoria quedó la muestra dividida en dos grupos: un grupo control que se trató con el tratamiento convencional y uno de estudio, tratado con acupuntura. Los datos fueron recogidos en tablas y tabulados por el método estadístico de chi cuadrado. Se concluye que en la terapia con acupuntura no existieron reacciones adversas y a los cinco días de tratamiento solo un 29% presentó dolor a la masticación y un 27% a la palpación de la musculatura, mientras que por el tratamiento convencional un 40,4% y un 50% respectivamente tenían estas alteraciones. Con acupuntura el promedio de sesiones necesarias para la remisión de los síntomas fue de 9, quedó demostrada la efectividad de esta terapia en el tratamiento del dolor disfunción temporomandibular.

A longitudinal prospective study is carried out aimed at studying the effectivity of the treatment with acupuncture in presence of pain temporomandibular joint dysfunction, present in a high percentage of patients.Due to the multifactorial etiology is hard to establish the treatment.The present research was carried out in "Abel Santamaría Cuadrado"University Hospital during February _September 2006. The sample was comprised of 104 patients attending to the dental surgeon office showing symptoms and signs of pain dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint. The sample was separated into two groups: a control group being treated with the conventional treatment and one study group being treated with acupuncture. Data were shown in pictures and tabulated using the chi-square test.It is concluded that acupuncture showed non adverse reactions and presenting only 29% of patients pain at chewing and 27% showed pain at muscle palpation while with the conventional treatment a 40,4% and 50% presented both disturbances, respectively. Using acupuncture 9 sessions were necessary for attaining a remission of symptoms, being proved the effectivity of this therapy in the pain dysfuction of the temporomandibular joint treatment.

Treatment of Temporomandibular Joint Disturbance by Acupuncture, TDP Radiation and Tuina in 30 Cases / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Acupoints Xiaguan ( ST 7 ), Jiache ( ST 6 ),Hegu (LI 4 ) and Neiting (ST 44 ) were selected and electroacupuncture, TDP and Tuina were used to treat 60 cases of temporomandibular joint disturbance, all the patients were randomly divided into two groups to compare the therapeutic effect, the results showed the effective rate were 100% and 83% in groups of electroacupuncture, TDP and Tuina, and group of electroacupuncture and Tuina respectively.