Symptoms and signs of temporomandibular disorders in girls with normal occlusion and Class II malocclusion.

Mandibular function, headaches, and symptoms and signs of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) were studied in one group of girls with a well-defined normal occlusion (n = 60) and another group with class II malocclusion (n = 123). Frequent headaches and temporomandibular joint clicking, muscle tenderness to palpation, pain on mandibular movement, awareness of tooth clenching, and grinding were commoner in the class II malocclusion group. Awareness of tooth clenching had the largest influence on the odds for symptoms and signs of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in a logistic regression analysis. Occlusal variables that increased the odds for symptoms and signs of TMD were large overjet, frontal open bite, few occlusal contacts, lateral sliding retruded-intercuspal contact position, crowding, and non-working side interferences. We concluded that normal occlusions have lower odds for symptoms and signs of TMD, whereas some occlusal characteristics, more frequently found in the class II malocclusion group, increased the odds for symptoms and signs of TMD.