Purpose: The prevalence of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in the general Polish population has not yet been thoroughly investigated. The aim of this study was to determine how frequently Polish young adults demonstrated the signs and symptoms of TMD, and how often they were aware of these.
Materials and methods: The study involved 260 volunteers of approximately 18 years of age (and with an F:M ratio of 2.8), who had completed the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) questionnaire in its internationally accepted Polish version. The volunteers were students from three randomly selected high schools in Kraków, Poland. Following the clinical examinations, all participants received none or one or more of the RDC/TMD axis I diagnoses on one or both sides: muscle disorders (group I), disk displacements (group II), arthralgia, osteoarthritis, and osteoarthrosis (group III). Classification on RDC/TMD axis II involved pain-related impairment (Graded Chronic Pain Severity, from 0: no TMD pain in the prior 6 months, to IV: high disability-severely limiting), depression, and somatization levels (normal, moderate, severe).
Results: On the RDC/TMD axis I, 69 (26.5%) of the participants received one or more of the possible diagnoses. Awareness of TMD was present in 20 (7.7%) people from that group, in the form of self-complaints. The difference between females and males was statistically significant (p = 0.0013). On the RDC/TMD axis II assessment, a diagnosis of pain, depression, or somatization was given in 38 (14.6%) cases from that group.
Conclusion: Muscle disorders were most frequently diagnosed in the group of Polish young adults, and the prevalence of the disease did not differ across similar groups of young people.
Keywords: Temporomandibular joints; signs and symptoms; stomatognathic system.
© 2015 by the American College of Prosthodontists.