Associations between oral behaviors, temporomandibular disorder subtypes and psychological distress in adult women: a retrospective case-control study

Oral behaviors and psychological distress are known to be related to temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). However, the relationship between various oral behaviors and specific TMD subgroups in adult women experiencing psychological distress is still unclear. To investigate the relationship between various oral behaviors and different TMD subgroups with different psychological distress states. A total of 210 female TMD patients were divided into 3 subgroups according to their symptoms: pain-related (PT), intra-articular (IT) and combined pain-related and intra-articular (CT). Another 70 participants without TMDs were recruited as the non-TMD (NT) control group. We used reduced Chinese versions of the Oral Behavior Checklist (OBC-Ch 8), including awake (OBC-Ch 6) and sleep-related activities, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) to assess oral behaviors and psychological distress. Differences in OBC scores among TMD subgroups were analyzed using Chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis H and post hoc tests, with significance set at p < 0.05. Oral behavior subscale scores significantly differed among TMD subgroups (p < 0.01). The OBC-Ch 8 scores of PT, IT and CT subjects were significantly higher than the NT group. PT and CT groups also had significantly higher GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores. Sleep-related OBC scores of the PT, IT and CT groups were higher than those in the NT group, regardless of psychological states (p < 0.001). In psychologically distressed subjects, OBC-Ch 8 scores for PT and CT subgroups were significantly higher than those in the NT group. Oral behaviors are differentially associated with various TMD subgroups in female adults, and a correlation exists between individual psychological status and OBC scores.