Evaluation of the effect of T-Scan™ as an adjunct to stabilization splint in the treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders

ABSTRACT

Objective

To assess the effectiveness of the stabilization splint (SS) combined with the T-Scan™ III system in the treatment of temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) with myofascial pain.

Methods

Forty-eight enrolled patients were randomly assigned to the SS group or T-Scan™-guided SS group. Mandibular Function Impairment Questionnaire (MFIQ), Maximum Comfortable Opening (MCO), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were used as the outcome variables.

Results

The occlusal contacts of patients in the SS plus T-Scan™ group showed lower Occlusal Time (OT), Disocclusion Time (DT), and Asymmetry Index of Occlusal Force (AOF) after occlusal adjustment under the guidance of the T-Scan™. Importantly, the TMD symptoms were alleviated more obviously in SS plus T-Scan™ group, with better scores for MCO and MFIQ.

Conclusion

T-Scan™-guided occlusal adjustment of SS can obtain better OT, DT, and AOF, which furthers improvement of the therapeutic effects on TMD with myofascial pain.

KEYWORDS:

• Temporomandibular disorder
• myofascial pain
• digital occlusal analysis
• stabilization splint

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the staff of Jilin University Graduate School. The authors would like to thank Dr. Zhengwen An for language corrections.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the New Technology and new therapy project of Hospital of Stomatology, Jilin University.