We have a publication in the Journal of Oral & Facial Pain and Headache!

I'm proud to announce that we have a publication in the Journal of Oral & Facial Pain and Headache (JOFPH) - the world's most prestigious journal on oral and facial pain!

The JOFPH is the official journal of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain (AAOP). Its first issue (originally called Journal of Orofacial Pain) was published in 1987.

The article published by our team presents a study on the prevalence of central sensitization (CS) and somatization among adults with temporomandibular disorders (TMD).

Central sensitization is a serious problem in medicine, as pain complaints in these patients often persist long after the damaging stimulus, such as inflammation or disease, has subsided.

Somatization refers to the tendency to experience and express psycho-emotional discomfort in the form of somatic symptoms, and is often found in patients with TMD.

A prospective observational study involving 214 adults without severe comorbidities and chronic pain syndromes diagnosed with TMD, based on diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders (DC/TMD), was conducted. The Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI) and Somatic Symptom Scale-8 (SSS-8) questionnaires were used to assess the severity of central sensitization and somatic symptom burden. In addition, the intensity of masticatory muscle pain (MMP) was numerically assessed in patients.

The result was surprising because most participants did not exceed the subclinical level for CS. Women reported higher scores on the SSS-8 than men. There was no significant association between specific TMD diagnoses and CS or SSS-8 levels. However, a significant correlation was observed between SSS-8 scores and chronic MMP intensity, highlighting the impact of chronic MMP intensity on perceptions of somatic symptoms among TMD patients.

This study showed a lower than expected prevalence of CS among TMD patients, an unexpected and significant result because until now studies have shown moderate to strong realtionship between CS and TMD. It is likely that earlier studies did not eliminate patients with severe general conditions and chronic pain syndromes other than TMD, which affected the results (in other words, very strict patient inclusion and exclusion criteria were not applied). In addition, the study showed that higher levels of somatization were associated with higher levels of CS and greater MMP.

I would like to congratulate the Authors very much on this prestigious publication and thank them for the many years of effort put into its preparation!

I encourage you to read the entire published study: https://www.jofph.com/articles/10.22514/jofph.2024.037