Signs and symptoms of mandibular dysfunction in patients with suspected oral galvanism

Fifty-four consecutive patients were examined by means of a self-administered questionnaire with questions related to general health and subjective symptoms. In addition, a clinical stomatognathic evaluation was carried out including palpation of the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) and the masticatory muscles and functional analysis of occlusion and mandibular mobility. High frequencies of general diseases were reported. The dominant subjective symptom was headache (62%), which often appeared daily. Symptoms such as pain from the teeth, pain in the face/jaws, and burning sensations in the tongue or oral cavity all appeared in more than half of the sample. The patients were frequently aware of parafunctions such as clenching of the teeth and tongue press. None of the investigated persons were completely free of clinical signs of dysfunction. The most frequent clinical finding was palpation tenderness in the masticatory muscles (96%), generally located in the masseter, temporal, and lateral pterygoid muscles. In more than half of the material TMJ findings were recorded, and more than one-third had TMJ pain. In 35% mandibular mobility was reduced. Occlusal interferences on retrusion and on the mediotrusion side were frequent findings. Impaired general state of health and multiple signs and symptoms of mandibular dysfunction were thus frequent findings in these polysymptomatic patients. Three-fourths of the patients needed treatment for mandibular dysfunction, indicating that great consideration must be made for the functional status of the masticatory system in clinical evaluation of so-called 'oral galvanists'.