Evaluation of the efficacy and quality of life in patients with temporomandibular joint disorders treated with Kovacs digital occlusal splint: a pilot study

Background

Few studies have been conducted on treating temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) with new digital occlusal splints, which has increasingly attracted wide attention.

Methods

To evaluate the clinical efficacy and quality of life (QoL) of Kovacs digital occlusal splint (KDOS) treatment in patients with TMD.

Materials and methods

Eighty-nine patients with TMD who were treated using KDOS were analyzed. The patients were divided into three groups according to the Wilkes stage. The clinical symptoms and QoL scores of the patients in each group were recorded before and at least three months after treatment, and the data were statistically analyzed and compared. The relationships between the disease severity, sex, age, and level of QoL before treatment and improvement in the clinical symptoms were analyzed using binary logistic regression.

Results

The mean age and follow-up period of the patients were 28.0 ± 10.4 years and 4.9 ± 2.1 months, respectively. After KDOS treatment, the improvement rates of joint noise and pain were 80.4% and 69.8%, respectively. Additionally, the patients’ maximum mouth opening and global QoL mean scores significantly improved compared to those before treatment (p < 0.001). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the factors affecting the improvement in the clinical symptoms were disease severity and level of QoL before treatment.

Conclusions

KDOS can improve the clinical symptoms and QoL of patients with TMD. Moreover, patients without osteoarthritis and with low pretreatment QoL levels are more likely to demonstrate clinical improvement.

Trial registration

The trial was registered with Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR) (ID: ChiCTR2300076518) on 11/10/2023.