Does the Prevalence of Temporomandibular Disorders Increase as a Result of Tooth Loss or Prosthetic Rehabilitation?

Objectives: The relationship between occlusion and temporomandibular joint disorder has been the subject of extensive research, yet the findings have been contradictory. In this study we re-examined data from a national screening examination from a novel perspective. The aim was to examine the correlation between partial edentulism, preexisting prosthodontic appliances, and TMD symptoms. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on data from a representative national oral epidemiological pathfinder survey. In our analysis, we investigated the registered TMD symptoms in three groups: patients with extensive tooth loss; patients with replaced teeth and patients with stable occlusion were considered as control group. Results: The present study utilised data from a total of 3,342 patients. A significantly higher prevalence of TMD symptoms was observed in the group with extensive tooth loss (28.2%) compared to the control group (21.56%, p=0.0141). Similarly, a significantly higher prevalence of TMD symptoms was observed in the group with restored dentition (25.3%, p=0.0480) compared to the control group. No significant difference was observed in the frequency of symptoms between the group with tooth loss and the group with replaced teeth. Conclusions: Significant correlation was found between the three examined groups. A comparison of the control group with both the extensive tooth loss and the restored dentition groups revealed a significantly higher prevalence of TMD symptoms in the latter two groups. This indicates that edentulism may be a contributory factor in the development of TMD symptoms, although replacing the missing teeth alone does not appear to eliminate this effect.