TEMPOROMANDIBULAR DYSFUNCTION AND THE IMPACT ON QUALITY OF LIFE: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Temporomandibular dysfunction has been frequent in the population, so chronic pain is directly related to the state of the quality of life; so it is necessary to understand the interference in the quality of life of individuals with the dysfunction. The objective of this study was to review the literature about quality of life of patients with temporomandibular dysfunction, emphasizing the different indexes to evaluate the quality of life. The databases for searching the literature were Pubmed, Bireme, Lilacs, Scielo. The keywords used in the literature search were epidemiology, temporomandibular joint disorders, quality of life, present in Health Desc. The literature reviewed was selected based on abstracts. The inclusion criteria were epidemiological and clinical studies; systematic review and meta-analysis; literature in portuguese and english; studies evaluating the TMD and quality of life indexes; while the exclusion criteria were literature review, clinical case, letter to the editor; literature addressing TMD and quality of life in children; studies that did not address the variables under study. The temporomandibular dysfunction according to the reviewed literature has an impact on the quality of life of the individual with dysfunction, several are the questionnaires to measure how much the TMD interferes in the daily activities of the patients, nevertheless the association of instruments is favorable to evaluate different categories as to quality of life of patients with dysfunction.