Prevalence and comparison of temporomandibular disorders according to Axis I in RDC/TMD and DC/TMD: a cross-sectional study

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of different temporomandibular disorder (TMD) diagnoses according to the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) and the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) and to compare the diagnoses according to both guidelines.
Method and materials: Clinical examinations of 218 patients with TMD complaints were conducted according to both guidelines. Descriptive statistics were performed to analyze the frequency of diagnoses and differences between the guidelines.
Results: Most patients diagnosed with TMD were women and middle-aged. The number of patients in the myofascial pain class was significantly lower for the RDC/TMD classification than for the DC/TMD classification (P = .045). The number of patients in the disc displacement with reduction category was significantly higher for the RDC/TMD classification than for the DC/TMD classification (P .001). Other categories did not exhibit differences between the classifications.
Conclusion: Women and middle-aged individuals are more affected by TMDs. Pain-related TMDs were the most common diagnosis, followed by disc displacement with reduction according to DC/TMD. According to the RDC/TMD classification, myofascial pain, arthralgia, and disc displacement with reduction were the most commonly observed diagnoses, respectively. Significant differences were observed between the pain-related TMD and disc displacement with reduction groups.