Prevalence of symptoms indicative of temporomandibular disorders in adults: cross-sectional epidemiological investigations covering two decades.

OBJECTIVES: The aims were (1) to study possible secular trends in the prevalence of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptoms in adults and (2) to analyse possible associations between TMD symptoms and background factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The investigation has a repeated cross-sectional design. Three independent, randomly selected samples of ∼100 individuals in the age groups of 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 years, a total of 1704 subjects, participated in the Jönköping studies in 1983, 1993 and 2003. All the subjects were evaluated using a questionnaire and a structured interview relating to the presence of TMD symptoms. Associations between symptoms and the Anamnestic Dysfunction Index (Ai) as dependent variables and each of the independent variables, age group, gender, reported bruxism, trauma (1983), self-perceived health impairment and the year of investigation were analysed in binary logistic regression models.

RESULTS: The prevalence of the separate symptoms, apart from for TMJ clicking, did not vary to any statistically significant degree between the different examination years. However, the prevalence of recurrent headache in 20-year-old subjects rose remarkably in 2003 and an increase in the Ai I and Ai II for the whole population was observed during the 20-year period. Reported bruxism, which increased during the study period, and self-perceived health impairment were associated with most of the TMD symptoms and the Ai.

CONCLUSIONS: An increase in the prevalence of TMD symptoms expressed as Anamnestic Dysfunction Index I and II has been noted over a 20-year period.