Oral health related quality of life in Slovenian patients with craniomandibular disorders

Sixty eight consecutive Slovenian patients with craniomandibular disorders (CMD) participated as the study group and another 400 adults from the regional population sample participated as the control group. The aim was to determine the impact of craniomandibular disorders to the self-perceived oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) and to compare the OHRQoL with a control group. The mean Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) summary scores were computed for all patients with the same diagnosis and for the same subgroups of the axis I according to the RDC/TMD exam protocol. The mean OHIP subscores for the seven domains of the OHIP questionnaire were compared between the study and the control group. Significantly higher OHIP summary scores and all the OHIP subscores were obtained in the CMD patients in comparison with the control group (p<0.05). Furthermore, in the CMD group, patients with two related diagnoses had significantly higher impaired OHRQoL than patients with a single one. The results revealed: 1. The CMD subjects are highly associated with the reduced OHRQoL, 2. Higher number of diagnoses of the axis I according to the RDC/TMD results in the more impaired OHRQoL, 3. The higher age of the patients revealed the more impaired OHRQoL.