Dr. Adams' Alabama Headache Blog

This stidy was designed to assess the change in psychological variables following biteplate therapy in the treatment of Temporomandibular Dysfunction. The SCL-90 (Derogatis) is a self-report test which assesses 9 psychological dimensions. Thirty-one patients of the Gelb Craniomandibular/Orofacial Pain Center were selected at random from 150 patients treated in a six month period. The SCL-90 along with a 10-point Visual Analogue scale to measure pain were administered before treatment and at the end of treatment (6 months after treatment began). Then 6 months later, the inventories were mailed to the patients. Eighteen responded to the 6-month follow up. Their responses were analyzed with Wilcoxon Signed Rank Tests (WSRT). General pain decreased significantly from initial levels over the first 6 months ( and 6 months later the decrease was maintained. The pain levels of the two periods were no different. Two psychological dimensions showed significant reductions over teh assessment periods. Although depression did not show a significant reduction six months after treatment began. It did decrease a significant degree from pre-treatment level by the one year period. Likewise, hostility did not decrease significantly by 6 months after start of treatment, but did reduce to a significant level by one year following initiation of treatment. None of the other psychological dimensions showed significant changes for the periods assessed. The results indicate that a significant reduction in pain results from biteplate therapy after 6 months of treatment and this reduction from pre-treatment level persists six months after termination of treatment. The appearance of significant reductions in depression and hostility 6 months after termination argues for follow-up testing because impact on psychological dimensions may not become manifest until some time after treatment is terminated.