OCCLUSAL SUPPORT AND PSYCHOSOMATICS OF THE TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

The study focuses on the association between reduced distal occlusal support, clinical and imaging signs of temporomandibular joint dysfunction, and anxiety-depressive symptoms in patients with chronic orofacial pain. The aim was to assess, using a retrospective review of clinical practice, whether an individual relaxation-repositioning splint was associated with changes in pain, jaw function, sleep, imaging markers of retrodiscal overload, and emotional status. The working hypothesis was that improvement of joint biomechanics and reduction of pain may be accompanied by lower anxiety and depressive symptom burden. The material consisted of anonymized clinical, psychometric, and imaging data from patients who received comprehensive conservative treatment in a dental clinic. Outcomes were compared between patients treated with an individual rigid full-anatomy relaxation-repositioning splint and those treated with a soft separating silicone appliance. Pain, functional limitations, sleep quality, oral-health-related quality of life, anxiety, depression, pain catastrophizing, condylar position, posterior joint space, and a retrodiscal index were assessed. By week twelve, the rigid splint group showed more pronounced improvements in psychometric, clinical, functional, and imaging outcomes compared with the control group. These findings support a biopsychosocial model of chronic pain in temporomandibular joint dysfunction and justify an interdisciplinary pathway combining gnathological assessment, imaging evaluation, and psychological screening. Because of the retrospective design, the results should be interpreted as associations rather than proof of direct causality.