Assessment of painful symptomology in patients with temporomandibular disorders by means of a combined experimental scale

Quantification and assessment of the evolution of painful symptomology in patients with temporomandibular disorders, during the pre-, trans- and post-therapeutic stages is one of the greatest difficulties found by dental surgeons. Various authors have studied and discussed the use of verbal and non-verbal scales for this purpose. Therefore, this study aimed, by means of a combined experimental scale, to assess the evolution of painful symptomology in patients with completely edentulous maxilla and partly edentulous mandible, with Class I or Class II Kennedy prosthetic spaces, treated with flat occlusal appliances, before, during and after 150 of starting treatment. A selection was made of 16 patients with a mean age of fifty-two years, with signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders and diminished vertical occlusion dimension. The patients were submitted to treatment with flat occlusal appliances and fortnightly consultations for a period of 150 days. During these consultations, patients recorded their painful symptomology on a combined experimental pain scale. The results obtained were grouped into tables and submitted to the Friedman Test at a level of 5% probability. These revealed statistically significant differences between the values obtained at each assessment made. According to the methodology used and the results obtained, it was concluded that the therapy used was effective and that the experimental scale was efficient for registering the evolution of the symptoms initially detected