Title Self-Care Therapy Can Provide Relief Of TMD Pain Equal To Splint Therapy
Clinical Question In a patient with TMD, how effective is self-care therapy for relieving pain compared to splint therapy?
Clinical Bottom Line There was an equal level of pain relief from Hard Splint, Soft Splint, and Self Care treatments.
Best Evidence  
PubMed ID Author / Year Patient Group Study type
(level of evidence)
16873325Truelove /2006n = 200 patients with TMDRandomized Controlled Trial
Key resultsThree groups; Self-care (n=64), Hard acrylic splint (n=68), and Soft vinyl splint (n=68) showed equal reduction in TMD pain (P>.40).
Evidence Search "Temporomandibular Joint Disorders"[Mesh] AND "Self Care"[Mesh] AND Clinical Trial[ptyp]
Comments on
The Evidence
Of the 262 original patients 37 patients (14 percent) were ineligible because they were already using splints satisfactorily and an additional 25 patients were excluded without a stated reason. This may have created selection bias by removing patients that might have found greater pain relief from splint therapy. It would be interesting to repeat this study on patients with no prior treatment for TMD or use a crossover design in the groups.
Applicability This study shows that non-splint treatment can be successful in reducing pain and other symptoms associated with TMD.
Specialty (General Dentistry)
Keywords Temporomandibular Joint Disorder, TMD, Self-care, Hard Splint, Soft Splint
ID# 2081
Date of submission 08/02/2011
E-mail terryg@uthscsa.edu
Author Glenn Terry
Co-author(s)
Co-author(s) e-mail
Faculty mentor S. Thomas Deahl, II, DMD, PhD
Faculty mentor e-mail DEAHL@uthscsa.edu
   
Basic Science Rationale
(Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?)
None available
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Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT
(FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs)
by Joey Dickson (San Antonio) on 11/30/2017
PubMed and TRIP database searches were conducted on 11/26/2017, and there is limited related evidence and no new evidence that supports this CAT. Further research needs to be conducted directly comparing the two therapies.