Quality of life in patients with temporomandibular joint arthrosis and orthopedic treatment of missing teeth depending on the severity of arthrosis and implant volume

Temporomandibular (TMJ) arthrosis severely impacts everyday activity and has substantial negative consequences for the general health state, especially when local manifestations are orchestrated by pronounced pain syndrome. That justifies the necessity of investigating the quality of life (QL) of patients with TMJ arthrosis who are undergoing orthopedic treatment. The research aimed to investigate the QL of patients with unilateral and bilateral TMJ arthrosis before and 6-8 months after occlusion correction, which was achieved by placing a different number of implants. In total, 127 patients (75 women and 52 men) were observed in the study of quality of life indicators, which were divided into four groups: bilateral TMJ arthrosis with the implantation of 3-6 implants (36 patients); bilateral TMJ arthrosis with the implantation of 1-2 implants (30 patients); unilateral TMJ arthrosis with the implantation of 3-6 implants (29 patients); unilateral TMJ arthrosis with the implantation of 1-2 implants (32 patients). Each group was comparable in age, gender, duration, and manifestations of arthrosis. QL was measured using questionnaire SF-36. In patients who were diagnosed with bilateral TMJ arthrosis and underwent implantation of 3-6 implants in the postponed period, only pain (P) and SRF scales significantly exceeded initial values – by two times and by 23.2% correspondently (P