Ear, nose, and throat symptoms in patients with TMD: The association of symptoms according to severity of arthropathy

The association of the severity of temporomandibular arthropathy to ear, nose, and throat symptoms in patients with temporomandibular disorders has been poorly investigated in spite of its importance in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to see whether persons with more severe arthropathy have more ear, nose, and throat symptoms. Anamnestic and clinical evaluations were obtained at admission for 815 subjects with signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders of arthrogenic origin in physical tests. The severity of arthropathy was evaluated by a clinical index scoring joint sounds, tenderness to temporomandibular palpation, and pain severity in the temporomandibular joint region. Univariate analysis showed that the severity of arthropathy was significantly associated with ear, nose, and throat symptoms as a whole (P .001) and specifically with deafness (P .001) and dizziness (P .05); however, tinnitus and earache were not statistically significantly associated. Multiple analysis showed deafness to be the only ear, nose, and throat variable independently associated with severity of arthropathy (P .01). These findings lead to the conclusion that there is a considerable association between temporomandibular disorders of arthrogenic origin and ear, nose, and throat symptoms, especially deafness. They also suggest that further investigations should be done to compare the specific roles of craniocervical arthritis versus temporomandibular disorders in the etiology of ear, nose, and throat symptoms related to craniomandibular and craniocervical joint involvement.