Prevalance of Symptoms and Signs of Temporomandibular Disorders Among Turkish Children

Prevalance of Symtoms and Signs of Temporomandibular Disorders Among Turkish ChildrenAim: The aim of the present study was to record the prevalance of signs and symtoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in Turkish children.Material &Methods: According to AAOP a questionnaire and a clinical examination of signs and symtoms of TMD were performed on 500 randomly selected school children between 9-15 years old. The sample was divided into two groups, 227 with mixed dentition and 273 with permanent dentition.Results: The most common symtoms of TMD were headache (%15) and pain on chewing (%9.2). The incidence of headache was found to be significant between genders (p<0.05).Chewing gums, nail biting and clenching/grinding were the most common oral parafunctions (%43.2, %23.8 and %15.2 respectivly) while thumb sucking was the least common (%2.6).The most common sign of TMD was muscle tenderness (%28.2). There was no significant difference between sexes and groups of muscle tenderness (p>0.05). TMJ sounds were found %4.8 of total sample.The incidence of disc slips, recorded by intra-auricular palpation, were found to be significantly increasing from mixed to permanent dentition (p<0.05).Generalized joint hipermobility (GJH) were performed by brigthon criteria. There was a significant difference between subluxation and GJH (p<0,05).Conclusions: We concluded that it was important of recording signs and symtoms of temporomandibular disorders among children to prevent before developing.Key words: Temporomandibular Disorders, Children, Symptoms and Signs