Abstract
It is well known that temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patients often suffer from ear symptoms, including earache, tinnitus, dizziness and deafness. However, only a few reports had documented the prognosis of ear symptoms following therapeutic interventions to TMD. We present a case report of TMD whose ear symptoms as well as TMD symptoms had been improved simultaneously by occiusal treatment.
The patient was a 36-year-old female complaining of right temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and noise on jaw opening. She also had earache and tinnitus in the right. She developed tinnitus and TMJ noise simultaneously seven months ago, and earache and TMJ pain on jaw opening a month ago. Her dizziness, which was a sequela of tympanitis in her childhood, deteriorated after the onset of TMD symptoms. There are marked pain on palpation in her right face including TMJ, masseter, temporalis, medial and lateral pterygoid, and posterior digastric muscle regions. Radiographs of TMJs were characterized by superior displacement of bilateral condyles. In occlusal examination, interferrences of upper incisers restored with resin facing crown and insufficient occlusal supports of the lower partial denture that replaced her bilateral molars were found. In the treatment, we performed occlusal adjustment in upper incisors and added self-curing acrylic resin to the occlusal surface in the lower partial denture. TMJ pain and earache vanished immediately after the occlusal treatment. Tnnnitus turned for the better after TMJ noise disappeared. Dizziness rarely occurred after the occlusal treatment, and the results of Stepping test, Positioning Nystagmus test and Caloric test were improved. These findings may suggest that ear symptoms were correlated with TMD symptoms and might have shared the cause in part with TMD.
