Temporomandibular Disorder Treatment Outcomes: First Report of a Large-Scale Prospective Clinical Study

ABSTRACT

The diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) has been surrounded by considerable controversy. Clinical research in the field to date has been inconsistent and methodologically limited and has not firmly established the role of treatment interventions. This large scale, multisite study attempts to answer some of the questions regarding TMD diagnosis and treatment. More than 6,500 patients are currently being analyzed and 1,212 have completed TMD therapy, providing the basis for comparison with 198 untreated patients. A wide variety of treatments have been administered from 60 practice sites, whose practitioners were carefully calibrated to maximize inter-rater reliability. A validated symptom measurement system, the TMJ Scale, was employed to assure uniform assessment of treatment outcomes. Treated patients reported statistically and clinically significant symptom improvement, while untreated patients reported unchanged symptom levels. Data presented here do not support the hypothesis that TMD patients improve spontaneously without treatment.

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Notes on contributors

Elmer L. Gaudet

Dr. Elmer L. Gaudet, Jr. received his D.D.S. degree in 1962 from Loyola University School of Dentistry in New Orleans, LA. After a one-year rotating dental internship in the U.S. Air Force in 1963, Dr. Gaudet received his M.S.D. degree and certificate in Orthodontics in 1968 from Fairleigh Dickinson University School of Dentistry in Teaneck, New Jersey. He devotes 100% of his Gulfport, Mississippi practice to craniofacial pain and TMD. He is a member of the American Association of Orthodontists; American Equilibration Society; American Dental Association; American Academy of Head, Neck, and Facial Pain; and a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management. He is co-chairman of the AAHNFP Research Committee.

Donald T. Brown

Dr. Donald T. Brown is an orthodontist with a private practice in Covington, Louisiana. He received his D.D.S. degree from the LSU School of Dentistry in 1972 and the M.S. degree and Certificate in Orthodontics from the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry at Chapel Hill in 1976. Dr. Brown is a Fellow of the Pierre Fouchard Academy and Academy of Dentistry International. Dr. Brown is also co-chairman of the AAHNFP Research Committee.