Short-term effectiveness of conservative therapies in pain, quality of life, and sleep in patients with temporomandibular disorders: A randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate, in the short term, the effectiveness of conservative therapies in pain, quality of life, and sleep in TMD patients.Methods: Eighty-nine TMD patients diagnosed by RDC-TMD were distributed in occlusal splints (OS; n= 24), manual therapy (MT; n= 21), counseling (C; n= 19), and OS associated with C (OSC; n= 25) therapy groups. Data collection was performed at baseline and within one month by VAS (pain), PSQI (sleep quality -SQ), WHOQOL-BREF (Quality of life - QL) and OHIP-14 (quality of life related to oral health -QLOH). The Split Plot ANOVA test was used to observe the difference between groups and over time.Results: All therapies were effective over time, improving pain (p< .001), SQ (p=.001), QLOH (p< .001), and QL (p= .006), but not between them.Discussion: The therapies were effective in improving pain, SQ, and quality of life; however, no therapeutic group was superior to the other.

Keywords: OHIP; PSQI; Temporomandibular joint disorders; VAS; WHOQOL; pain; quality of life; sleep wake disorders.