Who is the individual that will complain about temporomandibular joint clicking?

Background Understanding the profile of the individual complaining of TMJ clicking can help in the clinical approach of these patients. Objective To identify clinical variables associated with individuals who complain about and seek treatment for TMJ clicking. Methods Seventy‐two individuals, composed the sample: Group 1 – patients with a complaint of TMJ clicking who sought treatment; (n = 36); Group 2 – individuals with TMJ clicking who have no complaints about it (n = 36). Three categories of data were evaluated: clinical (gender; age; side of TMJ clicking; TMJ pain; self‐reported level of bother; previous TMJ clicking information); somatosensory (mechanical pain threshold [MPT], wind‐up ratio [WUR], pressure pain threshold [PPT]); and, psychosocial (Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire [PVAQ]; Pain Catastrophising Scale [PCS]; Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia for Temporomandibular Disorders [TSK/TMD]); The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS); The State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Results Group 1 was composed mostly of female patients, with TMJ pain, without previous orientation about the condition, bothered by the clicking, with lower PPT and higher scores in the PVAQ, PCS, TKS/TMD, PSS and STAI scales than Group 2. The groups did not differ significantly for side of TMJ clicking, age, MPT and WUR. Conclusion Individuals who have a TMJ clicking complaint and seek treatment are mostly female, have TMJ pain, have not received previous orientation about TMJ clicking, are bothered by the clicking, have a lower pain threshold and higher scores of hypervigilance, catastrophising, kinesiophobia, stress and anxiety than people with TMJ clicking who do not report it.