Relationship between bad oral habits, signs, and symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorders among Saudi population: A cross-sectional study

Background: According to the American Dental Association, temporomandibular disorders (TMD) refer to a group of disorders characterised by pain in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), the periauricular area, or the muscles of mastication. TMJ noise/sounds, and any deviations or restriction during jaw movements. Many oral habits are common and usually do not harm the TMJ and associated structures. However, these habits may result in TMJ disorders, if the activity goes beyond someone's physiological tolerance. The causes of degenerative changes of TMJ are believed to be multifactorial and controversial too. Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of oral habits and its relationship with temporomandibular disorders in the Saudi population of Taif city. Materials and Methods: This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2021 to July 2021 at Taif city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The Arabic version of a standardized questionnaire (recommended by the American Academy of Orofacial Pain) was used and distributed randomly among 441 citizens of Taif city. Results: Our study showed that many respondents had different TMJ disorders, such as pain during eating, sound in jaw joint, pain around ear, temples, and cheek, headache and neck pain, change in bite, and pain during opening and closing of the mouth. On the other hand, many respondents answered that they had TMD, pain associated with nail biting/object biting, lip biting, clenching teeth, and chewing gum. Conclusion: In the present study, a relationship between harmful oral habits and the development of signs and symptoms of TMDs among adolescents who lived in Taif city, KSA was noted. In the present study, no clinical examinations were conducted and only consisted of closed-ended questions, all of which may have a lower the validity rate. An effort was made to overcome these limitations by using a well-designed standardized questionnaire by the American Academy of the Orofacial Pain. We conclude that further studies are required and using of clinical examination to measure the severity of the signs and symptoms for better understanding the association of oral habits with TMJ disorders.