Jaw Pain Could Be Linked With Sleep Apnea

Temporomandibular joint disorders affect the jaw joint and surrounding tissue, but people with the condition also are more likely to have any number of other problems, including headaches, allergies, depression, fatigue, arthritis, fibromyalgia, autoimmune disorders, sleep apnea and gastrointestinal complaints, according to a new study published in the Clinical Journal of Pain.

Many of those other conditions were as much as six times more likely to occur in TMJD patients than individuals who did not have TMJD, said researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The report noted that TMJD, which can range from mild jaw pain to intractable pain and jaw dysfunction, affects between 10 million and 36 million Americans, 90 percent of whom are women.

The study was based on a survey of 1,511 people who were part of a registry maintained by the TMJ Association, a Brookfield, Wis.-based national patient advocacy organization.

“A multidisciplinary system approach will be necessary to advance our understanding of this complex disease and a major paradigm shift needs to occur in the way TMJD are viewed in the scientific and clinical communities,” the authors concluded.