Early begin of splint therapy improves treatment outcome in patients with temporomandibular joint disk displacement without reduction.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of treatment beginning at the long-term outcome after splint therapy, in patients with anterior disk displacements without reduction. Therefore, 19 patients with acute complaints (group I), 19 with subacute complaints (group II), and 17 with chronic complaints (group III) were treated with occlusal splints. The patients were evaluated regarding treatment outcome with extensive clinical examination and postal questionnaires. The percentages of pain-free patients after therapy were 84% in group I, 63% in group II, and 64% in group III. There was a statistically significantly greater increase of maximum jaw opening after therapy in group I than in the control groups (P<0.05). The improvements in mouth opening came to 19.1 mm in group I, 10.7 mm in group II, and 8.4 mm in group III. The present study indicates that an early start of treatment seems to have a positive influence on treatment outcome of patients with anterior disk displacement without reduction.