Insights & Discussion
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.
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.
Discover Related Insights
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 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.
Chinese acupuncture is safe and can be efficient in alleviating pain in patients suffering from temporomandibular disorder without clear joint pathology.
2010 Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies Acupuncture for treating temporomandibular disorder: retrospective study on safety and efficacy Noiman M, Garty A, Maimon Y, Miller U, Lev-Ari S.
Clinical Study Temporomandibular Disorders
The results of this study showed that Chinese acupuncture was safe as administered here and was efficient in alleviating pain in patients suffering from temporomandibular disorder not caused by an osseous source. In approximately 90% of these patients, a statistically significant pain alleviation was observed, with the pain completely gone in most patients.