Folia Medica Cracoviensia

Temporomandibular disorders includes abnormalities of the masticatory muscles, temporomandibular joints and the surrounding structures. The aim of the study was to carry out a retrospective assessment of the frequency of the pain form of TMD based on the analysis of medical records of patients treated at the Prosthodontic Department at Jagiellonian University in Kraków. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included the results of a medical history and a clinical examination of patients, who came for consultation at the Prosthodontics Department at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, due to pain of the masticatory muscles or/and TMJ and painless symptom of TMD like limitation of the jaw movements and joints' sounds. Out of all the analyzed results of the examination of treated patients, a group of patients with a painless and painful TMD was selected. RESULTS: The study involved the results of a detailed specialized functional examination of 334 patients (210 women and 124 men), ranging in age from 41 to 68 years. Analysis of the results of clinical examinations conducted in all patients revealed that 161 had the painless form - SG (99 women and 62 men) and 173 patients had the pain form of the TMD - CG (111 women and 62 men). In the CG 104 patients reported mostly pain in the masticatory muscles, while the remaining (69 patients) had a history of pain in one or simultaneously two TMJs. CONCLUSION: The analysis of the patients forms allows to conclude that more than half of patients seeking help are patients with the painful form of the TMD and these abnormalities occur more frequently in women than in men.