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“One in three people who are exposed to whiplash trauma, which induces neck symptoms, is at risk of developing delayed TMJ pain and dysfunction during the year after the accident,” concluded researchers in a study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association (August 2007).
Researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, studied short- and long-term TMJ pain and dysfunction in 60 patients in hospital emergency rooms directly after they were involved in a rear-end car collision and evaluated them again one year later. In this study, the incidence of new symptoms of TMJ pain, dysfunction, or both between the initial examination and follow-up was 5 times higher in subjects than in uninjured control subjects. In the year between the 2 examinations, 7% of control subjects developed symptoms in the TMJ versus 34% of study subjects.
Located on each side of the head, the TM joints work together and can make many different movements, including a combination of rotating and translocational (gliding) action, used when chewing and speaking. Any problem that prevents this system of muscles, ligaments, discs, and bones from working together properly may result in a painful TMJ disorder. When the patients reported having symptoms in the TMJ either before or after their accidents or both, the authors evaluated symptoms, including clicking, locking, and TMJ pain. They also asked patients to rate their pain intensity and report the degree to which symptoms interfered with their daily lives, including sleep disturbances, use of pain relievers, and the need to take sick leave.
(Source: American Dental Assocition, August 16, 2007)
