Unilateral mastication and orthodontic treatment as temporomandibular dysfunction risk facts

Abstract

Identifying and evaluating temporomandibular disorders is still an important fact when determining the therapeutic behavior and therefore the recuperation of the affected patient´s health and life quality. The purpose of this work was identifying some risk facts like unilateral mastication and orthodontic treatment of temporomandibular dysfunction in 7-to-44 years-old patients from different schools of the municipality of Matanzas. With that objective, we carried out a descriptive and transversal study. The sample, 1 866 patients grouped by age, was obtained applying a multistage, probabilistic scheme. The patients were diagnosed using the Krogh-Paulsen´s Test. The presence of the unilateral mastication fact was found in 26.8 % of the patients with temporomandibular dysfunction, with a notable increase of the values in the age group from 18 to 23 years (40.3 %). The orthodontic treatment fact was less frequent (24.3 %). The usage of a good clinic method could contribute to early detection of these anomalies avoiding complications.