Temporomandibular Disorders and Bruxism Outbreak as a Possible Factor of Orofacial Pain Worsening during the COVID-19 Pandemic-Concomitant Research in Two Countries

Alona Emodi-Perlman; Ilana Eli; Joanna Smardz; Nir Uziel; Gniewko Wieckiewicz; Efrat Gilon; Natalia Grychowska; Mieszko Wieckiewicz

doi:10.3390/jcm9103250

Temporomandibular Disorders and Bruxism Outbreak as a Possible Factor of Orofacial Pain Worsening during the COVID-19 Pandemic-Concomitant Research in Two Countries

J Clin Med. 2020 Oct 12;9(10):3250. doi: 10.3390/jcm9103250.

Authors

Alona Emodi-Perlman¹, Ilana Eli¹, Joanna Smardz², Nir Uziel¹, Gniewko Wieckiewicz³, Efrat Gilon¹, Natalia Grychowska⁴, Mieszko Wieckiewicz²

Affiliations

¹ Section of Dental Education, Department of Oral Rehabilitation, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldshleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6139001, Israel.
² Department of Experimental Dentistry, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-425 Wroclaw, Poland.
³ Department and Clinic of Psychiatry, Medical University of Silesia, 42-612 Tarnowskie Gory, Poland.
⁴ Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-425 Wroclaw, Poland.

Abstract

Background: In late December 2019, a new pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) infection began to spread around the world. The new situation gave rise to severe health threats, economic uncertainty, and social isolation, causing potential deleterious effects on people's physical and mental health. These effects are capable of influencing oral and maxillofacial conditions, such as temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and bruxism, which could further aggravate the orofacial pain. Two concomitant studies aimed to evaluate the effect of the current pandemic on the possible prevalence and worsening of TMD and bruxism symptoms among subjects selected from two culturally different countries: Israel and Poland.

Materials and methods: Studies were conducted as cross-sectional online surveys using similar anonymous questionnaires during the lockdown practiced in both countries. The authors obtained 700 complete responses from Israel and 1092 from Poland. In the first step, data concerning TMDs and bruxism were compared between the two countries. In the second step, univariate analyses (Chi²) were performed to investigate the effects of anxiety, depression, and personal concerns of the Coronavirus pandemic, on the symptoms of TMD, and bruxism symptoms and their possible aggravation. Finally, multivariate analyses (logistic regression models) were carried out to identify the study variables that had a predictive value on TMD, bruxism, and symptom aggravation in the two countries.

Results: The results showed that the Coronavirus pandemic has caused significant adverse effects on the psychoemotional status of both Israeli and Polish populations, resulting in the intensification of their bruxism and TMD symptoms.

Conclusions: The aggravation of the psychoemotional status caused by the Coronavirus pandemic can result in bruxism and TMD symptoms intensification and thus lead to increased orofacial pain.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; bruxism; coronavirus pandemic; orofacial pain; temporomandibular disorders.