Insights & Discussion
Auricular acupuncture was found to improve physical and emotional aspects in patients with temporomandibular disorders, with similar results to occlusal splint treatment.
In the study, patients suffering from temporomandibular disorders were allocated into three groups - those who received auricular acupuncture (AA), those treated with occlusal splints (OS), and a sham group. The patients were evaluated and monitored over an eight-week period using axes I and II of the RDC-TMD according to CONSORT guidelines.
The findings revealed significant improvements in both the emotional aspects and physical aspects amidst the auricular acupuncture group and occlusal splint group. The sham group showed no improvements in the emotional aspect and only a few in the physical aspect. The comparison between the auricular acupuncture group and the occlusal splint group revealed similar number of variables with improved outcomes, indicating that the auricular acupuncture treatment was as effective as the occlusal splint treatment. On the other hand, the sham group presented a significant difference when compared to the other groups. These results strongly suggest the potential of auricular acupuncture as a treatment option for temporomandibular disorders.
Discover Related Insights
Auricular acupuncture relieved pain and decreased disability more effectively than physiotherapy for frozen shoulder treatment.
2023 Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation Physiotherapy, Local Acupuncture, and Auricular Acupuncture for Frozen Shoulder Hollisaz MT, Khatibi Aghda A, Asheghan M, Amanollahi A, Hashemi SE
Randomised Controlled Trial Ear Acupuncture Frozen Shoulder
The research was conducted through a randomized clinical trial involving three parallel groups in an outpatient clinic at a university hospital. The 116 participants, suffering from a frozen shoulder, were randomly allocated to three groups where they underwent treatments of physiotherapy, local acupuncture, or auricular acupuncture. Assessment tools like the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index questionnaire and measures of the shoulder's active and passive ranges of motion were used to evaluate the effects of treatments both before and after their implementation.
The results of the study revealed that the most substantial improvements in active and passive ranges of motion including abduction, flexion, and passive external rotation were brought about by physiotherapy. Despite this, instances of pain reduction were more successfully achieved with acupuncture treatments, with auricular acupuncture leading the pack. In addition to this, auricular acupuncture made significant strides in improving the functional abilities of patients when compared to its counterpart treatments. Throughout the study, there were no reported side effects from any of the treatment approaches used.
Acupuncture, regardless of whether on specific or non-specific points, substantially decreases non-chronic pain in patients suffering from Temporomandibular Disorders.
2020 Journal of Oral Rehabilitation Comparison of acupuncture on specific and non‐specific points for the treatment of painful temporomandibular disorders: A randomised controlled trial Şen S, Orhan G, Sertel S, Schmitter M, Schindler HJ, Lux CJ, et al.
Randomised Controlled Trial Acupuncture Temporomandibular Disorders
In this double-blinded, single-centre, randomized controlled trial, 49 patients with non-chronic painful Temporomandibular Disorders were divided into two groups. Group A received acupuncture on specific points, while Group B had acupuncture on non-specific points. Subjects were examined, treated weekly with acupuncture for a month by a dentist, and reexamined five weeks after the initial examination by an examiner unaware of the study groups. The main criteria for assessment was characteristic pain intensity, with other factors considered including mouth opening ability, patients' expectations regarding treatment, mood, and oral health-related quality of life.
The results indicated that neither age nor characteristic pain intensity significantly differed between the two groups. However, characteristic pain intensity was notably lower five weeks post initial examination for both groups. A perceived increase in mouth-opening capacity, enhanced oral health-related quality of life, and a substantial reduction in mood disorder symptoms were encountered, with all patients holding positive views towards acupuncture therapy. The findings determined that the reduction of non-chronic pain from Temporomandibular Disorders through acupuncture cannot be credited to the selection of specific points alone.
In oral care, acupuncture can be a supplement to conventional treatments in temporomandibular disorders, facial pain, pain management, Sjoegrens syndrome, and in phobias and anxiety.
2017 Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine Acupuncture (針灸 Zhēn Jiǔ) – An Emerging Adjunct in Routine Oral Care Gupta, D., Dalai, D., Swapnadeep, Mehta, et al.
Systematic Review Facial Conditions Temporomandibular Disorders
Acupuncture aims to treat a range of medical and dental ailments, though is most commonly used for pain relief. This article reviews about the various possible roles of acupuncture in clinical dental practice. Acupuncture has potential in supplementing conventional treatment procedures by its diverse applicability outreach. Role of acupuncture in dental practice has been well supported by clinical trials. Its role in alleviating facial pain, pre-operative and post-operative dental pain has led to its widespread application.
Acupuncture therapy is effective in reducing the degree of pain in patients with temporomandibular disorders, especially those with myofascial pain symptoms.
2017 Medicine Acupuncture therapy in the management of the clinical outcomes for temporomandibular disorders Wu, Jun-Yi MD; Zhang, Chao MD; Xu, Yang-Peng MM; Yu, Ya-Yu MD; Peng, Le PhD; Leng, et al.
Systematic Review Facial Conditions Temporomandibular Disorders
This study compared the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture therapy in TMD patients through the meta-analysis of published results. Our results indicate that acupuncture therapy penetrating the skin has greater effectiveness and reduces the pain degree to a greater extent, especially myofascial pain symptoms, compared with both sham nonpenetrating acupuncture and sham laser therapy.
Acupuncture is a reasonable adjunctive treatment for producing a short-term analgesic effect in patients with painful temporomandibular disorder symptoms.
2010 The Clinical Journal of Pain Acupuncture in the treatment of pain in temporomandibular disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials La Touche R, Goddard G, De-la-Hoz JL, Wang K, Paris-Alemany A, Angulo-Díaz-Parreño S, et al.
Systematic Review Temporomandibular Disorders
The results of this meta-analysis suggest that acupuncture is a reasonable adjunctive treatment for producing a short-term analgesic effect in patients with painful TMD symptoms. Although the results described are positive, the relevance of these results was limited by the fact that substantial bias was present. These findings must be confirmed by future RCTs that improve the methodologic deficiencies of the studies evaluated in this meta-analysis.
Sign In
Users not signed in are limited to viewing the 5 most recent items of content.