Effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation versus Home Exercise Programme in Management of Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

Abstract

Introduction: The aetiology of temporomandibular joint disorder is multifactorial and different therapeutic approaches have been adopted for effective management of this condition. Aim: To compare the effectiveness of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) and Home Exercise (HE) in management of Temporomandibular Joint Disorders (TMD). Materials and Methods: Thirty six subjects who satisfied the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorder (RDC/TMD) were randomly assigned to TENS group and HE group. TENS group patients were administered TENS therapy as per standard protocol and HE group patients were advised an exercise program consisting of active and passive mouth opening and closing exercises, isometric mouth exercises, mouth stretching exercises and resistive mouth exercises. Muscle pain, joint tenderness on Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and maximum mouth opening scores were evaluated at pretreatment visit. One, two, three and four week of treatment are compared using independent and paired t-tests. Results: A significant reduction in muscular and Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) tenderness was observed in both TENS and HE groups. Comparing both, the value obtained with the TENS was higher than HE at the end of fourth week (p0.05). Conclusion: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and HE treatment modalities demonstrated similar effectiveness in the improvement of mouth opening. Hence, this study justify the use of TENS therapy as well as HE therapy in the management of TMD.

Keywords

• pain
• therapeutics
• visual analogue scale