Background & Aims

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) is an umbrella term for musculoskeletal conditions including orofacial pain and jaw dysfunction. The aetiology of TMD is regarded multifactorial but indirect trauma related to whiplash injury is suggested to be one contributing factor. The aim of the present review is to evaluate the prevalence of TMD symptoms after whiplash trauma.

Methods

This review was carried out in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines with a protocol registered in Prospero (CRD42023407091). A literature search to identify original articles on adult individuals with self-reported symptoms or signs related to TMD, or a TMD diagnosis in whiplash populations, was performed in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science on 10th March 2023. The electronic search was done without language restrictions and complemented with a hand search of reference lists and relevant literature. Risk of bias was assessed with the Joanna Briggs Institute Prevalence Critical Appraisal Tool. For the analyses, individuals with a whiplash trauma were subgrouped into the acute stage (?3months) and chronic stage (>3months) after trauma, respectively. A random effect meta-analysis for the prevalence of TMD pain was performed for the different groups.

Results

In total, 635 primary studies were identified, after abstract screening 95 of these were assessed in full text against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Fourteen studies, of which 6 were longitudinal and thus included both acute and chronic stages after trauma, were included. In total, 840 individuals with an acute whiplash trauma, 8,293 individuals with a chronic whiplash trauma and 1,591 controls were included in a qualitative analysis. Nine studies, including 449 individuals with an acute whiplash trauma, 7,912 individuals with a chronic whiplash trauma and 475 controls, were possible to include in the meta-analysis. In the meta-analysis, the mean prevalence for TMD pain was 20.9% (95% CI 12.11, 31.20) in the acute case group, 28.4% (95% CI 14.30, 45.07) in the chronic case group, and 3.9 % (95% CI 2.19, 6.01) in the control group.

Conclusions

Taken together, the present review suggests that the prevalence of TMD pain is higher in individuals with a history of whiplash trauma compared to the general population. The finding of higher prevalence in study groups in the chronic stage after whiplash trauma is probably partly related to selection bias but also to central sensitization as well as overlap and spread of pain between the jaw and neck regions.

References

Prospero (CRD42023407091)

Presenting Author

Birgitta Häggman-Henrikson

Poster Authors

Birgitta Häggman-Henrikson

PhD

Malmö University

Lead Author

Anna Lövgren

Umeå University

Lead Author

Wu Wendy

PhD

Department of Diagnostics and Intervention, Oncology, Umeå University, Sweden

Lead Author

Hans Westergren

MD

Department of Health Sciences, Lunds universitet, Lund, Sweden.

Lead Author

Christopher Peck

DDS

National University Health System

Lead Author

List Thomas

DDS

Orofacial Pain and Jaw Function, Malmö University, Sweden

Lead Author

Topics

  • Specific Pain Conditions/Pain in Specific Populations: Orofacial Pain