TMD-pain among adults in the county of Scania

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of TMD has been shown in epidemiological studies to be 10-15 % and it is most often women in their 20-40´s, but also men, children and elderly have TMD. The most common reason for seeking care for TMD seems to be pain. In a recently published meta-analysis of the epidemiological literature the need for TMD treatment was estimated to be about 15 % among adults. Objectives: This study evaluates the prevalence of TMD-pain in adults in the county of Scania. Methods: A questionnaire was 2006 mailed to a randomized selected sample of 10000 individuals in the county of Scania. If the subjects answered yes to one or both of following questions, the subject was classified as having TMD-pain (1) “ Do you have pain in your temples, face, jaw joint or jaws once a week or more?” and (2) “Do you have pain when you open your mouth wide or chew once a week or more?”. Results: 6123 subjects (64%) answered the questionnaire. 1210 subjects (20,4 %) reported TMD-pain. Mean age was 47 years, with a female-male ratio of 7:5. A higher prevalence of TMD-pain was found for the ages 20-59 with the highest figure for the ages between 20 and 29 years. TMD-pain was reported by 19–21 % of subjects born in Sweden or another Nordic country compared to 32 % of the subjects born in another country. Length of education was not related TMD-pain. A higher prevalence of reported TMD-pain was found for subjects being unemployed, retired or were on sick leave compared to other occupations. TMD-pain was reported by 19 % of married subjects, 23 % of not married subjects compared to 27 % of subjects with another family-situation. Conclusion: The study found a high prevalence (20,4 %) of TMD-pain among adults in the county of Scania