Occlusal tactile acuity in temporomandibular disorder pain patients: A case-control study

Objective: To compare the smallest thickness that can be perceived between occluding teeth (occlusal tactile acuity, OTA) of temporomandibular disorder pain (TMD-P) patients with that of control (CTR) individuals. Methods: Twenty TMD-P patients (17 women and 3 men, mean age: 31.3 ± 10.4 years) diagnosed according to the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) protocol and 20 age- and gender-matched controls (17 women and 3 men, mean age: 31.4 ± 10.5 years) were enrolled. The OTA was tested with 10 different thicknesses: 9 aluminium foils (8 µm-72 µm with a constant increment of 8 µm) and 1 sham test (without foil), each thickness being tested 10 times in random order (100 tests in total). The participants were instructed to close their mouth once and to report whether they felt the foil between their molar teeth. A between-group comparison (TMD-P vs CTR) was performed for each testing thickness (analysis of variance for repeated measurements, with Bonferroni multiple correction) (P <.005). Results: Significantly increased OTA was observed in the TMD-P group for the thicknesses between 8 µm and 40 µm, while no significant differences were found for the sham test and for the larger thicknesses tested (from 48 µm to 72 µm). Conclusions: TMD-pain subjects presented an increased OTA as compared to controls.