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76th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

04.05. - 08.05.2005, Erfurt

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Temporomandibular dysfunction in sportdivers

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Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie. 76. Jahresversammlung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie e.V.. Erfurt, 04.-08.05.2005. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2005. Doc05hno370

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/hno2005/05hno248.shtml

Published: September 22, 2005

© 2005 Klingmann et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

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Objective: To determine the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders in scuba divers and to identify the risk factors for the development of pain in the stomatognathic system before and after diving by the use of a questionnaire.

Design: retrospective cohort study based on questionnaires to find out if there is a correlation between diving and temporomandibular disorders.

Participants: 296 active divers, aged 18 to 65 years, who answered a questionnaire at scuba diving meetings, were included in this study.

Interventions: Each diver answered a questionnaire containing 29 questions, predominantly on symptoms of TMD before, during and after diving.

Main Outcome Measure: The data collected from the divers was calculated by the use of logistic regression tests. Risk factors for the development of TMD were evaluated.

Results: Clenching and/or limited mouth opening seemed to be the greatest risk factors for the development of pain in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) during or after the dive. The prevalence of TMD-related symptoms was higher in women, both before, during and after the dive.

Conclusions: Divers should not only be examined regularly by a general practitioner, but also by a dentist or a specialist for TMD. Individuals exhibiting TMD-related symptoms seem to be at the greatest risk of developing pain in the TMJ and/or the masticatory muscle system during or after the dive.