Headache as a symptom of craniomandibular disorders. II: Management

The Role of Pain Inflexibility and Acceptance among Headache and Temporomandibular Disorders Patients

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and headache are complex. This study aims to assess the association between TMD, headache, and psychological dimensions such as psychological inflexibility and pain acceptance. The sample consisted of 120 participants following a non-probabilistic convenience sampling strategy through a direct invitation to the patients attending our facilities and their relatives (n = 61 diagnosed with headache, n = 34 diagnosed with TMD-headache, n = 25 control group). Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC-TMD), International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3 beta version), Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ-8), and Psychological Inflexibility in Pain Scale (PIPS) were used as assessment tools. One-way ANOVA, multiple regression analysis (MRA), and the Johnson-Neyman approach were run by IBM SPSS, version 27 (IBM^® Company, Chicago, IL, USA). The significance level was 0.05. One third of our sample presented with headache with TMD. Females were predominant. Males with headache, no systemic disease, less pain severity but higher frequency, living longer with the disease and having sensitive changes, showed higher pain acceptance. When headache occurs with TMD, women with higher education, no headache family history, less pain, and no motor changes showed higher pain acceptance. Patients with both conditions are more liable to have chronic pain and pain inflexibility. Pain intensity and willingness explain 50% of the psychological inflexibility in the headache group. In our sample, individuals suffering from both conditions show greater pain inflexibility, implicating more vivid suffering experiences, leading to altered daily decisions and actions. However, further studies are needed to highlight this possible association.

Reduction of headache intensity and frequency with maxillary stabilization splint therapy in patients with temporomandibular disorders-headache comorbidity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to analyze the effectiveness of maxillary stabilization splint (SS) therapy to reduce headache (HA) intensity and HA frequency in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD)-HA comorbidity. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using full-arch coverage, hard resin, and maxillary SS therapy were included. Electronic databases, including Cochrane Library, MEDLINE through PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE, were searched. The risk of bias was analyzed based on Cochrane's handbook. The search yielded 247 references up to January 28, 2020. Nine RCTs were included at a high risk of bias. The comparison groups included other splints, counseling, jaw exercises, medications, neurologic treatment, and occlusal equilibration. Four studies reported a statistically significant reduction in HA intensity, and five studies reported significant improvement in HA frequency from baseline at 2-12 months in patients with TMD-HA comorbidity treated with a full-arch hard maxillary SS. HA frequency in tension-type HA (TTH) comorbid with TMD diagnoses of myofascial pain (MFP) or capsulitis/synovitis improved significantly with SS than that with full-arch maxillary non-occluding splint (NOS) in two studies. Comparison groups receiving hard partial-arch maxillary splint nociceptive trigeminal inhibition (NTI) showed statistically significant improvements in HA intensity in patients with mixed TMD phenotypes of MFP and disc displacement comorbid with "general HA." Comparison groups receiving partial-arch maxillary resilient/soft splint (Relax) showed significant improvements in both HA intensity and frequency in patients with HA concomitant with MFP. The meta-analysis showed no statistically significant difference in the improvement of pain intensity at 2-3 months with comparison of the splints (partial-arch soft [Relax], hard [NTI], and full-arch NOS) or splint use compliance at 6-12 months with comparison of the splints (partial-arch Relax and full-arch NOS) versus the SS groups in patients with various TMD-HA comorbidities. In conclusion, although SS therapy showed a statistically significant decrease in HA intensity and HA frequency when reported, the evidence quality was low due to the high bias risk and small sample size. Therefore, further studies are required.