Abstract
AIMS: Symptoms of central sensitization syndrome (CSS) were evaluated among three different groups of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patients. Additionally, TMD group differences in pain and pain-related disability were assessed, as well as emotional distress. METHODS: Participants were 250 patients with symptoms of acute TMD, recruited from dental clinics within a major metropolitan area. Sequential regressions and multivariate analyses of covariance were conducted in order to make group comparisons. RESULTS: Those with a TMD Muscle Disorder (ie, myofacial TMD [m-TMD]) and those with more than one TMD diagnosis had the most symptoms of CSS and higher reports of pain and pain-related disability. Moreover, emotional distress accounted for a substantial amount of the variance for physical symptoms and mediated all TMD comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: Myofacial TMD is characterized by a high degree of comorbidity of symptoms of CSS and associated emotional distress.