Journal of dental research
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In 2006, the OPPERA project (Orofacial Pain: Prospective Evaluation and Risk Assessment) set out to identify risk factors for development of painful temporomandibular disorder (TMD). A decade later, this review summarizes its key findings. At 4 US study sites, OPPERA recruited and examined 3,258 community-based TMD-free adults assessing genetic and phenotypic measures of biological, psychosocial, clinical, and health status characteristics. ⋯ Two other studies investigating gene-environment interactions found that effects of stress on pain were modified by variation in the gene encoding catechol O-methyltransferase. Lessons learned from OPPERA have verified some implicated risk factors for TMD and refuted others, redirecting our thinking. Now it is time to apply those lessons to studies investigating treatment and prevention of TMD.
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This review explores the principles and process associated with the diagnosis of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). TMD diagnosis has evolved substantially over the past 25 y. Previously, diagnosis focused solely on aberrations in oral structures, largely without empirical evidence. ⋯ These principles were retained in the subsequent validation research of the RDC/TMD, and the current diagnostic system-the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (DC/TMD)-has improved on those principles as well as on diagnostic validity and protocols for assessing the psychosocial domain. Further investigations into etiology and its potential contribution to taxonomy revision are described, particularly within the context of complex disease. The review concludes with an outline of major research areas already underway that will support future revisions of the DC/TMD.
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This article provides an overview of the neurobiology of orofacial pain as well as the neural processes underlying sleep, with a particular focus on the mechanisms that underlie pain and sleep interactions including sleep disorders. Acute pain is part of a hypervigilance system that alerts the individual to injury or potential injury of tissues. It can also disturb sleep. ⋯ Although it has become clear that sleep is essential to preserve and maintain health, it has also been found that pain, particularly chronic pain, is commonly associated with disturbed sleep. In the presence of chronic pain, a circular relationship may prevail, with mutual deleterious influences causing an increase in pain and a disruption of sleep. This article also reviews findings that indicate that reducing orofacial pain and improving sleep need to be targeted together in the management of acute to chronic orofacial pain states in order to improve an orofacial pain patient's quality of life, to prevent mood alterations or exacerbation of sleep disorder (e.g., insomnia, sleep-disordered breathing) that can negatively affect their pain, and to promote healing and optimize their health.