EFFICACY OF THE COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT OF GNATHOLOGICAL SPLINT THERAPY AND ORTHODONTICS IN PATIENTS WITH TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT DYSFUNCTION OF OCCLUSAL ETIOLOGY

Temporomandibularjointdysfunction (TMD) ispresent in 50% of theworldpopulation, itschronicity and progressiontoseverestages, affectthequality of life of patientswhosufferfromit and compromisethestability and functionality of theentiregnathicsystem. Thisstudy examines theefficacy of a comprehensiveclinicaltreatment of TMD of occlusaletiology, through a temporary-conservativegnathologicalsplinttherapy and a subsequentpermanentcorrection of theocclusalschemethroughorthodontictreatment. Methods: 48 patientswith TMD of occlusaletiologywereexaminedafterthetreatment of gnathologicalsplint and orthodontics. Throughanexhaustiveclinicalexamination, thediagnosticindex of Helkimo and thecondylar position indicator test (CPI), thesigns and symptoms of TMD weremeasuredbefore and aftertreatment, and thencompared and analyzedstatisticallyto determine theeffect and themagnitude of thetreatmentonthe TMD (p> 0.05). Results: Theaverageage of thepatientswas 30.1 (? 8.50), 62.5% werefemalepatients. Statisticallysignificantdifferenceswereobserved, theaverage of theinitial DTM was 5.9 points (moderate) and thecondylardistractionwas 2.5 mm (pathological). Post-treatmentthe final DTM averagewas 1.83 points (mild), withanaveragecondylardistraction of 1.62 mm (normal). Thedecrease in thepresence of 1 or more symptomswasobserved in 18.7%, of clinicalsigns in 52.1% and of occlusalinterferences in 14.5% of patients. Conclusion: Thecomprehensiveclinicalmanagement of the TMD withgnathologicalsplint and orthodontics, allowsthe control and reduction of theclinicalsigns and symptoms, preventsitsprogressiontoseverestages, and guaranteesthestability and functionality of thegnathicsystem in a longterm.