Therapy of the osteoarthritis of the temporomandibular joint

Osteoarthritis is a common condition of the mandible. The treatment of osteoarthritis primarily consists of rest therapy (restricting jaw movements), the use of pharmaceuticals (analgesics, antiinflammatories), splint therapy, thermotherapy or mini-invasive therapy. Our study investigated the effectiveness of the various therapeutic options in the treatment of osteoarthritis. We compared the effectiveness of rest therapy (restricting mouth opening, analgesic therapy), splints, arthrocentesis of the upper joint space, and arthrocentesis in combination with splint therapy. We looked at 80 patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the temporomandibular joint. We only included patients with symptoms in one temporomandibular joint (TMJ). This 3 months long-term study shows that arthrocentesis combined with the use of a splint is an effective first-stage treatment method for patients with osteoarthritis of the TMJ (80% patients with good outcome 3 months after commencement of therapy). (C) 2010 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery.