2019 Volume 17 Issue 3-4 Pages 93-99
The assessment of parafunctional behaviors is an essential baseline examination because those behaviors can cause repetitive trauma to the masticatory system. The purpose of this study was to examine whether changes in oral parafunctional behaviors are related to the natural course of temporomandibular disorder(TMD). The parafunctional behaviors were assessed by the Oral Behavior Checklist(OBC), a subjective list of 21 parafunctional behaviors. Symptoms of TMD were assessed by a self-reporting diagnostic tool, the symptoms questionnaire(SQ). The OBC and SQ questionnaires were administered to 112 students(71 males and 41 females, mean age 22.91±1.99 years)at baseline(BL)and after an 8-month follow-up(FU)period. The chi-squared test was performed to test the null hypothesis that there would be no change in prevalence between symptoms at BL and symptoms at FU.
The null hypothesis, which was that the natural course of the variety of the OBC tertile group(a group shift to a lower score tertile group, a group shift to a higher score tertile group, and the absence of a group shift after the 8-month FU period) would not be associated with the natural course of TMD symptoms, was rejected. There was a statistically significant association between the participants who shifted tertile groups and the natural course of TMD, with respect to pain(p=0.013)and noise(p＞0.00).
