The effect of conservative treatment of temporomandibular disorders on somatic tinnitus.

Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, is the phantom sensation of sound in the absence of an internal or external source for the sound which occurs in 10-15% of adults. Subjective tinnitus, influenced by the somatosensory system is called somatosensory tinnitus. In this subtype, the tinnitus can be influenced by impaired somatosensory input from the masticatory system or from the cervical spine.Our research group was able to demonstrate that non-invasive treatment of the cervical spine and of the masticatory system can lead to an improvement of tinnitus complaints (Michiels, Van de Heyning, Truijen, Hallemans, & De Hertogh, 2016; Van der Wal et al., 2020). Information on the underlying working mechanisms of these treatments is however lacking. This is important as it can shed light on tinnitus pathophysiology.We recently performed a mediation analysis and found that an improvement in temporomandibular disorder (TMD) was able to explain 35% of the observed treatment effect in patients with somatic tinnitus attributed to TMD (van der Wal et al., Submitted). TMD is however an umbrella term and further elaboration on the contribution of different components of TMD in tinnitus is needed. Of particular interest are the acting neurophysiological mechanisms. Also the assessment of a change in TMD over time needs to be improved.The current project is funded by remaining funds of a FWO TBM project and will be used to apply for.additional funding.ReferencesMichiels, S., Van de Heyning, P., Truijen, S., Hallemans, A., & De Hertogh, W. (2016). Does multi-modal cervical physical therapy improve tinnitus in patients with cervicogenic somatic tinnitus? Man Ther, 26, 125-131. doi:10.1016/j.math.2016.08.005Van der Wal, A., Michiels, S., Van de Heyning, P., Braem, M., Visscher, C., Topsakal, V., . . . De Hertogh, W. (2020). Treatment of Somatosensory Tinnitus: A Randomized Controlled Trial Studying the Effect of Orofacial Treatment as Part of a Multidisciplinary Program. J Clin Med, 9(3). doi:10.3390/jcm9030705van der Wal, A., van de Heyning, P., Gilles, A., Jacquemin, L., Topsakal, V., Van Rompaey, V., . . . de Hertogh, W. (Submitted). Is a reduction of somatic tinnitus severity mediated by an improvement in temporomandibular disorder? Hearing Research.

Keywords:TINNITUS, REHABILITATION, JAW JOINT, PAIN

Disciplines:Oral medicine and pathology, Otology, Physiotherapy