Occlusal Contact of Subjects with Temporomandibular Disfunction and Symptoms of TMD

Abstract

This study was conducted to clarify the relationship between extraordinary occlusal contact and temporomandibular disfunction (TMD) symptoms. The subjects were 25 persons with normal occlusion and 100 patients with TMD. These occlusal contacts were recorded at intercuspal, protrusive and lateral positions.
Then the differences of the extraordinary occlusal contact were examined, and comparison was made between the patients with and without orofacial pain as well as the patients with and without the articular disk displacement in TMJ.
The results were as follows:
1. The majority of patients showed occlusal contacts distinctly different from those of the normal subjects.
2. The ratio of the extraordinary occlusal contact was higher for the patients with orofacial pain than those without pain. This tendency was clear especially at intercuspal and protrusive positions.
3. At the ratio of the extraordinary occlusal contact, there was no fixed tendency between the patients with disk displacement and those without disk displacement. But if the patients were divided into three groups (one group without disk displacement, one with disk displacement on one side and one with disk displacement on both sides), at the intercuspal and lateral positions the patients with disk displacement on both sides indicated the highest ratio, and at the protrusive position the patients without disk displacement indicated the highest ratio.