Signs and symptoms of temporomandibular joint dysfunction in children with primary dentition
Leonardo Rigoldi Bonjardim / Maria Beatriz Duarte Gaviao / Fabiola Grammatico Carmagnani / Luciano Jose Pereira / Paula Midori Castelo

The presence of signs and symptoms of TMD in 99 children with primary dentition was evaluated through clinical exam and a questionnaire. The results showed that 34.34% presented signs and/or symptoms of TMD. Among the children with symptoms, 50% presented at least one sign or more, differing significantly from the ones without symptoms, and from those 21.6% presented sign (p=0.0l85). The most prevalent symptom was frequent headache (7.07%) followed by jaw pain (4.04%), earache (3.03%) and difficulty in swallowing (3.03%). The most prevalent sign was jaw deviation (18.18%) followed by occlusal interferences (7.07%), asymmetric condylar movement (5.05%) and TMJ sounds (3.03%). We concluded that signs and symptoms of TMD are present in early ages, even though in a small number of children.