Changes in clinical signs of craniomandibular disorders from the age of 15 to 25 years

An epidemiologic sample of 84 subjects was followed longitudinally from the age of 15 to 25 years concerning clinical signs of craniomandibular dysfunction. There was an obvious fluctuation of the clinical signs of craniomandibular disorders over the 10-year period. No statistically significant change of any of the separate clinical signs or the clinical dysfunction index was noted, and no subject had severe signs of dysfunction. Muscle pain on palpation was still the most common clinical sign and was noted in nearly half of the subjects after 10 years. Temporomandibular joint clicking was common at the ages of 15 and 25 years, but no subject had developed locking of the temporomandibular joint during the 10-year period. Occlusal interferences in the retruded contact position and on the nonworking side increased during the 10-year period and were now present in 74% and 32% of the participants, respectively. A slight increase of occlusal wear was noted, but more pronounced wear was still a rare finding at the age of 25 years. Twenty-one subjects (25%) were judged by the examiners to be in need of some kind of functional treatment. The treatment advocated was in most cases minor, however, and could, with few exceptions, be incorporated in the subjects' ordinary dental treatment.