Clinical Effect of Physiotherapy for Temporomandibular Disorders of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease with immunologic abnormalities. Although the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) can be involved, early changes of the TMJ affected by RA are unclear, and the treatment for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in patients with RA is not established yet. Physiotherapy is effective for general joints with RA but its effect for RA of the TMJ is unknown. The clinical effects of physio-therapy for TMD in RA patients was investigated. Five patients with RA visited our depart-ment with complaints of the TMD. Physiotherapy, including exercises of TMJ movement and mastication training were stasted, bilaterally and simultaneously. Clinical findings showed an increase in maximal interincisal distance with no pain after therapy in 4 patients. No patient had anterior open bite or TMJ ankylosis in the follow-up period (2.5 to 5.3 years). These results suggest that physiotherapy is also effective for the TMD in RA patients.