Assessment of painful symptomology in patients with temporomandibular disorders by means of a combined experimental scale

Quantification and assessment of the evolution of painful symptomology in patients with temporomandibular disorders, during the pre-, trans- and post-therapeutic stages is one of the greatest difficulties found by dental surgeons. Various authors have studied and discussed the use of verbal and non-verbal scales for this purpose. Therefore, this study aimed, by means of a combined experimental scale, to assess the evolution of painful symptomology in patients with completely edentulous maxilla and partly edentulous mandible, with Class I or Class II Kennedy prosthetic spaces, treated with flat occlusal appliances, before, during and after 150 of starting treatment. A selection was made of 16 patients with a mean age of fifty-two years, with signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders and diminished vertical occlusion dimension. The patients were submitted to treatment with flat occlusal appliances and fortnightly consultations for a period of 150 days. During these consultations, patients recorded their painful symptomology on a combined experimental pain scale. The results obtained were grouped into tables and submitted to the Friedman Test at a level of 5% probability. These revealed statistically significant differences between the values obtained at each assessment made. According to the methodology used and the results obtained, it was concluded that the therapy used was effective and that the experimental scale was efficient for registering the evolution of the symptoms initially detected.

Comparison between two methods to record occlusal contacts in habitual maximal intercuspation

This research evaluated two techniques to record the occlusal contacts in habitual maximal intercuspation obtained in models mounted in semi adjustable articulator and in the mouth using an eight-micrometer carbon paper and sensors (T-Scan II). It was selected a sample of twenty five people, male and female, ages between twenty and twenty five years old with natural dentition. The collected data were visually and statistically evaluated by means of the Spearman coefficient. The results showed that the carbon paper as material used for the occlusal contact records enabled to determine exactly the quantity and its locations in the occlusal surface. However, it did not provide the information on the sequence, time and intensity on how these occur. The T-Scan system enabled to determine the quantity, the sequence and the exact time that they occur, however the system did not determine the exact location of the contacts over the teeth occlusal surface. It was observed that in both methods, the quantity of the occlusal contacts recorded in the mouth was higher than the ones obtained in the articulator and that the sensor thickness did not interfere in the reproduction of the quantity of dental contacts in comparison to the carbon paper.