Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to identify pain characteristics in relation to time that might be serving as a diagnostic aid in differentiation of the acute stage from the chronic. Twenty-four patients with signs and symptoms of TMJ dysfunction with or without pain of the associated muscular system participated in this study by filling in the sfMcGill pain questionnaire. The patients are divided into two groups. In the first group, patients were classified as having acute TMJ pain who reported TMJ pain of less than three months (n = 7). In the second group patients reported TMJ pain history of more than three months, classified as chronic group (n = 17). After statistical analysis, significant levels were found in the two groups, p< 0.05, rejecting the null hypothesis that the proportion of patients in the acute and chronic groups characterized the pain as sharp and tender is 0.5, respectively. The process chart and the differenced area in relation to time were not significant due to small number of time points. Although these two groups had significant characteristics, the small sample size of this study indicated the requirement for future research.
P. Kafas, N. Chiotaki , Ch. Stavrianos and I. Stavrianou , 2007. Temporomandibular Joint Pain: Diagnostic Characteristics of Chronicity. Journal of Medical Sciences, 7: 1088-1092.
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