Research Insights
Insights are moderated by the Research Hub team and offer an at-a-glance overview of interesting research findings.
Auricular acupuncture was found to improve physical and emotional aspects in patients with temporomandibular disorders, with similar results to occlusal splint treatment.
Randomised Controlled Trial Ear Acupuncture
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.
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Acupuncture, regardless of whether on specific or non-specific points, substantially decreases non-chronic pain in patients suffering from Temporomandibular Disorders.
Randomised Controlled Trial Acupuncture
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.
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Acupuncture therapy is effective in reducing the degree of pain in patients with temporomandibular disorders, especially those with myofascial pain symptoms.
Systematic Review Facial Conditions
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.
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Chinese acupuncture is safe and can be efficient in alleviating pain in patients suffering from temporomandibular disorder without clear joint pathology.
Clinical Study Facial Conditions
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.
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There is limited evidence that acupuncture is more effective than sham acupuncture in alleviating pain and masseter muscle tenderness in temporomandibular disorders.
Review Article
Seven RCTs (including 141 patients) met our inclusion criteria. Six studies comparatively tested needle acupuncture against penetrating sham acupuncture, non-penetrating sham acupuncture or sham laser acupuncture, whilst the remaining study tested laser acupuncture against sham laser acupuncture. Five studies were considered to be at low risk of bias. Outcomes were reported for pain intensity, facial pain, muscle tenderness and mouth opening.
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Study Protocols
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Presentation Slides
Chinese Medicine Research Hub
Randomised Controlled Trial
Auricular acupuncture was found to improve physical and emotional aspects in patients with temporomandibular disorders, with similar results to occlusal splint treatment.
2022 Complementary Therapies in Medicine Auricular acupuncture in TMD — A sham-controlled, randomized, clinical trial
Aroca JP, Cardoso PMF, Favarão J, Zanini MM, Camilotti V, Busato MCA, Mendonça MJ, Alanis LRA
Chinese Medicine Research Hub
Randomised Controlled Trial
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, Giannakopoulos NN
Chinese Medicine Research Hub
Systematic Review
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, Wei-Dong PhD; Niu, Yu-Ming PhD; Deng, Mo-Hong PhD
Chinese Medicine Research Hub
Clinical Study
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.
Chinese Medicine Research Hub
Review Article
There is limited evidence that acupuncture is more effective than sham acupuncture in alleviating pain and masseter muscle tenderness in temporomandibular disorders.
2010 Evidence-Based Dentistry Limited evidence that acupuncture is effective for treating temporomandibular disorders
Jens C Türp
Chinese Medicine Research Hub
Systematic Review
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, Mesa J, Hernández M
Executive Summary
Write an executive summary in the form of a blog article on the topic of "Research into Chinese medicine treatment for Temporomandibular Disorders" summarising the research below and using language that can be easily understood by patients and avoiding medical jargon using a professional and caring tone of voice.
Write an executive summary in the form of a blog article on the topic of "Researched Chinese medicine treatments for Temporomandibular Disorders" summarising the research below in an objective and easy to understand way, and using language that can be easily understood by patients. Group the article into Chinese medicine treatments first, followed by nutrition and other treatments. Avoid using medical jargon and use a professional and caring tone of voice.
Write me a concise but easy to understand executive summary on the topic of "Chinese medicine treatments for Temporomandibular Disorders" based on the following research that I will give you. Your summary should be 2 paragraphs long in Australian English spelling and include references to the studies.
A Randomised Controlled Trial published in 2022 in the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine found that 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.
A Randomised Controlled Trial published in 2020 in the journal Journal of Oral Rehabilitation found that Acupuncture, regardless of whether on specific or non-specific points, substantially decreases non-chronic pain in patients suffering from 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.
A Systematic Review published in 2017 in the journal Medicine found that Acupuncture therapy is effective in reducing the degree of pain in patients with temporomandibular disorders, especially those with myofascial pain symptoms. 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.
A Clinical Study published in 2010 in the journal Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies found that Chinese acupuncture is safe and can be efficient in alleviating pain in patients suffering from temporomandibular disorder without clear joint pathology. 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.
A Review Article published in 2010 in the journal Evidence-Based Dentistry found that There is limited evidence that acupuncture is more effective than sham acupuncture in alleviating pain and masseter muscle tenderness in temporomandibular disorders. Seven RCTs (including 141 patients) met our inclusion criteria. Six studies comparatively tested needle acupuncture against penetrating sham acupuncture, non-penetrating sham acupuncture or sham laser acupuncture, whilst the remaining study tested laser acupuncture against sham laser acupuncture. Five studies were considered to be at low risk of bias. Outcomes were reported for pain intensity, facial pain, muscle tenderness and mouth opening.
A Systematic Review published in 2010 in the journal The Clinical Journal of Pain found that Acupuncture is a reasonable adjunctive treatment for producing a short-term analgesic effect in patients with painful temporomandibular disorder symptoms. 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.