TITLE:
Future of Treatment of Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunctions in Parkinsonian Patients
AUTHORS:
Reda Ahmed Nofal, Alaa Abdelqader Altaweel, Yasser Ibrahim Seada
KEYWORDS:
Electromagnetic, Temporomandibular Joint, Parkinsonian Patients, Electromyography, Tensiometer, Goniometer, Pain and Range of Motion
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Stomatology,
Vol.4 No.4,
April
29,
2014
ABSTRACT: The purpose of the study was designed to clarify the modern trends of physical therapy in treatment of temporomandibular joint dysfunctions in Parkinsonian patients, which in this respect included the degree of pain, the muscles power of both masseter and pterygoid, the range of TMJ motion, the angle of mouth opening and their effects on electromyography study in both sexes. Subjects: Thirty males and females were the same degree of disabilities according to modified Hoehn and Yahr scales (grade 3) of Parkinsonian patients, and their age ranged from 50 - 77 years old and their weight ranged from 60 - 88 kg. They were randomly divided into two equal groups (G1 and G2). G1 (control) consisted of 15 patients of both sexes and was treated by exercises therapy program and G2 (experimental) consisted of 15 Parkinsonian patients of both sexes and was treated by the same exercises therapy program and low level pulsed electromagnetic therapy. Vital signs such as blood pressure, body temperature, pulse rate and respiratory rate were measured before and after the treatment sessions. Assessments: Visual analogue scale was used to measure degree of pain. Tensiometer was used to measure the muscle power of masseter and pterygoid, the digital goniometer was used to investigate the range of TMJ movement. Moreover, standard electromyography test (EMG) was used to measure the compound muscle action potentials. Statistically the results for all groups were analyzed by t-test to compare the differences between the two groups. The statistical package of social sciences (SPSS, version 10) was used for data processing using the P-value 0.05 as a level of significance. Results showed that there were significant improvements in all variables in G2 only. However, there was a little improvement but not significant in both G1. Therefore, it could be concluded that the use of low level pulsed electro-magnetic therapy combined with exercises program was the good method to control pain of TMJ, increase of muscle power and the range of their movements together with determination of electro-myography. Our results opened a new link to manage the TMJ dysfunctions in Parkinsonian patients via the use of low level pulsed electromagnetic therapy combined with exercises program.