Association between Comorbidities and Subtypes of Temporomandibular Dysfunction: An Observational Study

Aims: Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) has an important relationship with a compromised general health status, which is why the present study evaluated the presence of comorbidities in individuals diagnosed with TMD, identifying the TMD subtype, whether muscle and/or joint, and verifying the most frequent comorbidities related to TMD subtypes, relating them to human body systems.

Materials and Methods: We selected 270 individuals in the city of Fortaleza/CE, aged between 18 and 70 years old. The individuals were evaluated using the DC/TMD instrument. In addition, a questionnaire to quantify comorbidities was applied.

Results: Regarding the subtype of TMD in the sample under study, it was observed that the most prevalent was muscle/joint (53.3%; n = 144), followed by muscle (46.3%; n = 125) and last to articulate (0.4%; n = 1). No important correlations were identified (p > 0.05) when we compared TMD subtypes with gender and age variables. When asked about the presence of diseases, it was shown that the nervous system (n = 89; 33%) and sensory (n = 84; 31.1%) were the ones with the highest prevalence among comorbidities.

Conclusion: all TMD subtypes were found in the sample, predominantly mixed TMD. Several comorbidities were found, especially in the nervous and sensory systems. No correlations were found between the presence of comorbidities and gender or age.