• Paulo Afonso Cunali, Fernanda R Almeida, Camila D Santos, Natalia Y Valdrighi, Liliane S Nascimento, Cibele Dal'Fabbro, Sergio Tufik, and Lia Rita A Bittencourt.
• Department of Dentistry, Universidade Federal do Parana, Parana, Brazil. pacunali@onda.com.br
• J Orofac Pain. 2009 Jan 1;23(4):339-44.

AimsTo evaluate the prevalence of pain associated with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) patients referred for oral appliance therapy.MethodsEighty-seven patients (46 men and 41 women), between 18 and 65 years of age, with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of > 5 and < 30 (events by sleep hour), and body mass index (BMI) of =or< 30 Kg/m(2) were evaluated according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) to determine the presence of signs and symptoms of TMD. Statistical analyses included correlations assessed by Pearson's test.ResultsFifty-two percent of patients presented symptoms of TMD. Thirty-two patients (average age 47 +/- 11 years, AHI 17.3 +/- 8.7, BMI 25.9 +/- 3.8 kg/m(2)) completed the study. According to the Scoring Protocol for Graded Chronic Pain (Axis II-RDC/TMD), 75% of the patients presented chronic pain related to TMD, categorized as low disability grade I (< 50 points for pain intensity, and < 3 disability points). The most common TMD diagnosis was myofascial pain with and without limited mouth opening and arthralgia (50%).ConclusionThe high prevalence of TMD in the current study indicates that patients with OSAS referred for oral appliance therapy require specific evaluation related to TMD.

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