Short-term Effects of a First-Line Treatment Including Counseling and Self-Management Strategies on Chronic TMD Muscle Pain and Awake Bruxism in Women

J Oral Facial Pain Headache. 2022;36(1):36-48. doi: 10.11607/ofph.3037.

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the short-term effects of a standardized first-line noninvasive approach (FL-A) including counseling and self-management strategies on pain, masticatory muscle tenderness, and awake bruxism in women with chronic temporomandibular disorder myalgia (mTMD) and to test whether patients' trait anxiety predicted their response to treatment.

Methods: FL-A was administered to 14 women with chronic mTMD (mean age ± SD = 33.8 ± 11.1 years; 8 with Graded Chronic Pain Scale [GCPS] grade I and 6 with grade II). Its effects on facial pain, masticatory muscle tenderness, and spontaneous awake bruxism episodes were evaluated using questionnaires, surface electromyography, and quantitative sensory testing. General linear models were used to test FL-A efficacy after 1 (T1) and 2 (T2) months.

Results: FL-A reduced pain (from baseline [T0] to T2, P = .010), the frequency of awake bruxism episodes (T0 to T1, P = .024), and their intensity by about 30% (T0 to T1, P < .001). Pressure pain thresholds at the masticatory muscle locations increased significantly from T0 to T2 (P < .001). Patients' trait anxiety decreased significantly from T0 to T2 (P = .030). Trait anxiety measured at baseline was not correlated with relative changes in pain (T0 to T2, P = .248).

Conclusion: In the short term, FL-A reduces facial pain, masticatory muscle tenderness, and awake bruxism in women with chronic mTMD with low disability. A conservative management strategy should be prioritized for the initial management of these patients.

MeSH terms

  • Bruxism* / therapy
  • Counseling
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Myalgia / therapy
  • Self-Management*
  • Wakefulness

Grants and funding

The authors thank Tommaso Castroflorio (University of Turin, Dental School, Department of Orthodontics, Italy) and OT Bioelettronica (Turin, Italy) for providing assistance with the EMG device. This research was supported by the University of Naples Federico II (Dottorato di Ricerca in Scienze Odontostomatologiche), who awarded a stipend to V.D., and by the Department of Neurosciences at the University of Naples Federico II. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Research Ethics Board (protocol 15/16) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.