Effectiveness of Splint Therapy in the Management of Temporomandibular Joint Disorders

Objectives: Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs) are a set of clinical diseases that involve the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), myofascial muscles, and other related tissues. There is currently no single standard for the classification of TMD, although the most widely used criteria are the research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders (RDC/TMD).TMJ pain and clicking, myofascial or oral masticatory muscle pain, and irregular jaw movement are the most common signs and symptoms of TMD. It is a major public health issue since it is a leading cause of persistent oral and facial pain that interferes with daily activities. Splint therapy is one of the conservative modalities for the management of temporomandibular joint disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of splint therapy in patients with temporomandibular joint disorders in our regional population. Methods: In this retrospective study, a total of 192 patients who had temporomandibular disorders and treated with splint therapy were included. The following parameters were evaluated based on the dental records; age and gender of the patients, types of TMD, clinical manifestations of TMD, treatment outcomes, effectiveness of splint therapy, and types of splint therapy. Excel tabulation and SPSS version 23 was used for data analysis and results obtained. Results: In our study, a total of 192 patients with TMD undergoing splint therapy were assessed with the age range of 10-60 years and mean age of 21-40 years. The age group of 21-30 years had higher rate of splint therapy (37.82%) followed by 31-40 years age group with 32.12%. Male patients were predominantly on splint therapy (54.9%) than the females (45.08%) Splint therapy was predominantly provided for disc-condyle disorder patients followed by MPDS condition and least for the patients with degenerative disorders. Soft splint was predominantly (89.2%) chosen for patients with TMD with only 10.8% patients were provided with hard splint as it was required. Splint therapy was effective for majority of the patients (80%) with TMD. The association between age and gender of patients with the effectiveness of splint therapy for treating temporomandibular joint disorders was statistically significant. The association between type of splint therapy and effectiveness of splint therapy for treating temporomandibular joint disorders was statistically significant. Soft splints were more effective (70.98%) than the hard splints (8.29%). The association between type of temporomandibular joint disorder and effectiveness of splint therapy for treating temporomandibular joint disorders was statistically significant. Splint therapy was effective in 45% of patients with disc-condyle disorder and in 26.7% of patients with MPDS.It was not very useful in patient with degenerative disorders as it was effective in only 7.33% of patients. Conclusion: In our study, an increased number of people in the younger age, especially males received the splint therapy for the management of temporomandibular joint disorders. Soft splints were chosen for the vast majority of the people which were very effective in treating temporomandibular joint disorders. Splint therapy was very effective in treating younger age people than the elderly. Splint therapy was effective for both females and males with males exhibiting a higher response rate. Splint therapy was very effective in treating patients with disc-condyle disorder followed by MPDS patients. In our study, majority of the patients with TMJ pain responded well to splint therapy, but a small a percentage of patients developed refractory or persistent TMD