Temporomandibular disorder treatment with diathermy stimulation technique: a pilot study

Background: The temporomandibular disorder (TMD) treatment modalities range from noninvasive to surgical treatments. Diathermy is one of the noninvasive medical treatment options in which controlled high-frequency energy is applied to generate heat in body tissues to treat osteoarthritis and muscle pain. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorder (DC-TMD) Questionnaire based results of diathermy stimulation rehabilitation in patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems with no internal dislocation of the disc. Methods: The DC-TMD questionnaire documents were uploaded to a special question evaluation software, and 47 questions (grouped in 8 categories) were automatically chosen to assess TMD-related pain, jaw mobility, and quality-of-life impact. All the patients received diathermy stimulations that were scheduled once a week for 5 weeks (T0: 1st diathermy simulation, T1: 2nd session, T2: 3rd session, T3: 4th session, Tf: 5th session). Pre and post-treatment results from 47 questions were collected at each session, and outcomes were assessed among them, using T0 as a baseline to evaluate improvements. Results: 10 patients (8 women and 2 men) aged between 22 and 50 years were included. There was a tendency for improvement for each category, and mean scores decreased over time. However, no significant difference was found in overtime for any category except the Mandibular Functional Limitation Scale (LM), which showed significant improvement, and patients reported fewer limitations. Conclusions: The outcomes obtained cannot be considered total recovery from problems, but according to the results, diathermy applications can be regarded as beneficial for improving TMJ-related disorders, which an increase the quality of life (QoL) of such patients.