Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Temporomandibular Disorder Patients Treated with Stabilization Splint

Objective: The study aims to evaluate the oral health index related to the quality of life in patients with temporomandibular disorder (TMD) referred to the Mashhad School of Dentistry between 2018 and 2019 before and three months after treatment. Methods and materials: This observational prospective study was conducted by interviewing patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and clicking who referred to the Department of Prosthodontics, Mashhad Dental School, Iran, between 2018 and 2019. The demographic information of 63 patients was recorded separately. Then, using the Persian version of the OHIP-14 and GHQ-28 questionnaire, the quality of life in patients with TMD was compared before and three months after stabilization splint treatment. To evaluate the quality of life, the OHIP-sum index was used, and finally, the obtained data were analyzed by SPSS software using the Mann-Whitney test, paired-sample t-test, and Wilcoxon test. Results: OHIP sum was 24.31±8.82 and 13.15±9.52, before and after the intervention respectively. The GHQ sum was 33.32±12.9 and 20.71±11.07 before and after the intervention respectively, showing a significant decrease. The most problems of the stabilization splint users were related to psychological discomfort and the least common problems were related to functional limitations. Conclusion: The treatment of TMD using stabilization splints can significantly increase the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in these patients.