TEMPORO-MANDIBULAR JOINT DISORDERS TREATMENT: REVIEW OF A CASE SERIES AND EVALUATION OF CLINICAL FACTORS ACTING ON OUTCOME

Temporo-Mandibular Disorders (TMD) is a constellation of diseases characterized by pain of TMJ or its surrounding tissues, functional limitation of the mandible, or clicking the TMJ during motion. TMD etiology and pathogenesis are not completely understood and therefore a precise diagnoses and management is difficult. There is a wide range of medical or/and surgical treatment options. The majority of TMD can be greatly advantaged by the treatment with gnathologic and physiokinesic techniques. Because of no general agreement is reached on treatment protocols, data from 35 patients with TMD are reported. Our data demonstrated that oral appliance and physiotherapy are associated with a better clinical outcome. However, both oral appliance and physiotherapy are not strong enough to determine the effectiveness of the clinical outcome by themselves. Surgery must be reserved only to severe cases when conservative methods failed.