2017 Volume 30 Issue 1 Pages 18-22
Tooth contacting habit (TCH), which was described by Kino, Sugisaki, et al., is associated with root fractures, broken restorations and systemic symptoms such as stiff shoulders and headaches. We have had some opportunities to provide instructions on correcting TCH to patients who were suffering from pain after receiving implant treatment in other clinics. Since we succeeded in ameliorating symptoms of these patients, we recommend TCH correction for implant patients.
Patient profiles : Case 1 : 63-year-old female. She came to our clinic with persistent pain following an implant at the left mandibular first molar defect site one year earlier. She had pain in masseter and temporal muscles, and there were exostoses in both jaws. With the diagnosis of primary TCH with no freeway space, we instructed her on correcting the habit. After the correction, her VAS score improved from 65 to 20. Case 2 : 64-year-old female. She came to our clinic with pain in the right upper quadrant. She had received an implant in another clinic some years earlier. She was suffering from pain in masseter and temporal muscles as well as stiff shoulders. Her diagnosis was also primary TCH. Her VAS score of 66 before TCH correction improved to 14 after the correction.
We diagnosed these patients whose pain persisted after implant placement in other clinics as TCH and gave them instructions on correcting TCH. As a result, both cases showed improvement of symptoms after the correction and were satisfied with the result. When patients are suffering from pain after implant placement and its etiology is considered to be TCH, we recommend TCH correction therapy as a treatment option to alleviate the pain. We will continue to accumulate cases of TCH with implant to further investigate the usefulness of the TCH correction method.
