Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) is one of the most common problem in contemporary dentistry. It is a term covering dysfunction of the masticatory muscles and the temporomandibular joints. Patients are suffering from severe pain, followed by limited mandibular opening and sounds in the temporomandibular joints during jaw movement. TMD influences the quality of life because the symptoms can become chronic and difficult to manage. Radiofrequency waves (RF) are electromagnetic waves with low energy and high frequency. They provide pain relief without causing significant damage to the nervous tissue. The RF therapy is commonly used for physiotherapeutic treatment of skeletal muscle relaxation, as a supportive therapy. The rehabilitation effect of these waves is based on diathermy by means of high-voltage quick alternating current. RF has also found application in physical therapy, as a therapeutic tool for various types of chronic pain syndromes. The aim of this literature review is to show the beneficial effect of radiofrequency waves on the pain of the masticatory muscles in the course of TMD.
Introduction: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are the second most common cause of chronic pain in the human musculoskeletal system. The triad of symptoms of TMD includes: pain within the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), limitation of its mobility and crepitations. The aim of the study was to present the methods of physiotherapy and to assess its effectiveness in patients with hypomobility of temporomandibular joints.
Material and Methods: 44 patients (40.2 ± 10.6 years) were examined for signs of TMD using the Manual Functional Analysis of masticatory system (MFA) questionnaire due to DC/TMD. In the above group, 20 patients showed hypomobility of TMJs and myofascial pain. They underwent a 3-week phy-siotherapy consisting of manual therapy and exercises. In the study group, linear measurements of TMJs mobility and palpation of selected masticatory muscles were performed. Pain was assessed before and after 3 weeks of therapy according to Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). Statistical processing of the data was done with STATISTICA 13 and was conducted considering significance at a p-value <0.05.
Results: Significant improvement in TMJ’s mobility, which increased on average by 6.6 mm (p = 0.0005) and reducing of pain, a decrease of 3 points on average on the NRS Scale (p = 0.00002) were achieved.
Conclusions: The applied physiotherapy algorithm, including manual therapy and exercises of mas-ticatory muscles, is effective in the case of improvement TMJ’s range of motion and reduction of pain in patients with hypomobility of TMJ’s.