Prevalence of Signs and Symptoms of Temporomandibular Disorders in Patients with Different Rheumatic Diseases

Abstract

Objective: To compare the prevalence and severity of Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) among seropositive and seronegative rheumatic patients shortly after diagnosis and before any medical treatment. Material and Method: We conducted a prospective study involving 88 patients with rheumatic diseases: 49 seropositive patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 39 seronegative patients with psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis. Patients were diagnosed with rheumatic disease based on the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology. The study protocol included recording of medical history, clinical examination, serological evaluation and radiographic assessment. Immediately following diagnosis, patients underwent TMD assessment, including examination for signs and symptoms and recording of anamnestic and clinical indices. Chi-square tests (p<0.05) were used to compare characteristics between the two groups using SPSS software. Results: No statistically significant differences were observed in TMD prevalence or severity among patients with rheumatic diseases. Clicking and deviation did not differ significantly between groups. However, seropositive patients exhibited significantly increased limitations of movement (p=0.002) and muscular pain (p=0.030) compared to seronegative patients. No significant differences were observed in TMJ pain or pain on movement. Conclusion: No statistically significant differences in TMD prevalence between seropositive and seronegative patients with rheumatic diseases were detected. Nevertheless, limitations of movement and muscular pain appeared significantly increased in seropositive patients in the early stage of the disease before any therapeutic intervention.