Use of the universal pain assessment tool for evaluating pain associated with temporomandibular disorders in youngsters

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ABSTRACT

Aim

Determine, whether the UPAT could be used as an extra tool to collect data on functional TMJ pain and to assess orofacial pain levels related to temporomandibular disorder(s) (TMD) in youngsters.

Methods

Patients were screened at the N1 Dental Clinic of Tbilisi State Medical University. The clinical scores of possible functional jaw pain were collected using the UPAT, to indicate pain severity on a visual scale during different jaw movements (opening, closing and lateral). Statistics: Comparisons of categorised data have been performed by chi-square test and Fisher’s Exact test (where expected values were less than 5). The P value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results

Two hundred and ninety-one youngsters were screened by calibrated dentists. The majority (59%) of participants were male; age distribution ranged from 8 to 15 years (mean 11.46 ± 2.11). The results of the UPAT demonstrated the existence of functional TMJ pain in 15.46% (n=45) of the patients without significant prevalence (P > 0.05) in this survey group.

Conclusion

According to the results of the present study, the UPAT demonstrated that it could be an additional tool to detect the existence of functional jaw pain possibly associated with TMD and also a valid instrument to score pain intensity associated with TMD in youngster patients.

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