J Orofac Pain
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Palmitoylethanolamide versus a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug in the treatment of temporomandibular joint inflammatory pain.
To carry out a randomized clinical trial to compare the effect of palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) versus ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), for pain relief in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis or arthralgia. PEA acts as an endogenous agent with an autacoid local inflammation antagonism and modulates mast cell behavior controlling both acute and chronic inflammation. ⋯ These data suggest that PEA is effective in treating TMJ inflammatory pain.
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The measurement of the pain-pressure threshold in the human jaw muscles may be affected by variables such as the size of the pressure-transducer recording surface and the rate of applied pressure. The jaw muscles have a complex architecture that results in changes in muscle stiffness and compliance when different motor tasks are performed. Such changes in the jaw muscles are likely to affect the pain-pressure threshold. ⋯ There were no apparent regional differences in pain-pressure thresholds in the masseter or temporalis muscles at different amounts of tooth clenching or jaw gapes. Pain-pressure thresholds were consistently higher in the temporalis muscle. When quantitative measures of jaw muscle pain-pressure thresholds are planned, the nature of the motor task should be controlled.
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Sleep bruxism, a well-known burden for dentists, is commonly observed in pediatric populations. Dentists are responsible for the detection and prevention of the detrimental consequences on the stomatognathic system that may occur in some patients with sleep bruxism. ⋯ A literature search was performed to identify relevant publications related to the topic, which have been integrated in this topical review. The aim of this article was to provide a brief overview on sleep bruxism, headaches, and sleep-disordered breathing in pediatric patients and to promote a multispecialist approach (including dentists, sleep specialist physicians, and psychologists) in the diagnosis and management of these frequently associated disorders.
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A self-administered questionnaire consisting of 21 questions, diagrams for chief pain location, and a digital pain scale was used prospectively to sort 92 patients with orofacial pain into three categories: (1) musculoligamentous (ie, temporomandibular disorders); (2) neurologically based (ie, migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, tension-type headache, cluster headache, and atypical facial pain); and (3) dentoalveolar pain. Sensitivity, specificity, as well as negative and positive predictive values suggest that this questionnaire may be used reliably to identify patients with orofacial pain that fits the above-described pain categories without prior knowledge of the clinical diagnosis. ⋯ Patients with musculoligamentous or dentoalveolar pain selected the lowest digital pain scale values up to 15 times more frequently than those with neurologically based pain. Although this questionnaire may be used for initial categorization of pain, there is still no substitute for a thorough history and clinical examination.
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This study examined masseter and temporalis pain-pressure thresholds in 29 patients with chronic bilateral myogenous temporomandibular disorder and in 11 controls. Patients with evidence of temporomandibular joint pathosis were omitted. The influence of time, facial side, muscle site, and side of greatest spontaneous pain on pain-pressure thresholds was measured. ⋯ Mean pain-pressure thresholds in patients differed over the four sessions, which is consistent with recent reports of fluctuating levels of pain in patients with temporomandibular disorders. Additional findings included significant pain-pressure threshold differences among muscle sites in patients and controls, and lower patient pain-pressure thresholds relative to controls. Within- and between-session reliability was adequate for patients (r = .85 and r = .75, respectively) and controls (r = .90 and r = .75, respectively).