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Does conservative temporomandibular therapy affect tinnitus complaints? A systematic review

Journal Contribution - Journal Article

Aims: The aim of this review was to investigate if TMD treatment can positively influence tinnitus complaints. Methods: Four online databases: Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus and The Cochrane Library for trials, were searched till August 2018. The search strategy was based on the PICO-framework and the following search was entered in the different databases: ("tinnitus"[Mesh] AND "craniomandibular disorders"[Mesh]) AND (("physical therapy modalities"[Mesh] OR "dental care"[Mesh] OR "occlusal splints"[Mesh]) OR (physical therapy modalities OR splint therapy OR TMD therapy)). Two independent reviewers extracted the data and performed a risk of bias assessment. Results: A total of eleven studies were included. These studies showed an overall positive effect of the combination of splint therapy and exercise treatment on tinnitus severity, tinnitus intensity on VAS and global perceived effect. One study specified that the treatment effect was only present in patients with severe to very severe tinnitus, where the others found an effect in the overall study group. The risk of bias in the included studies was high, mainly due to lack of statistical analyses between groups and before-after treatment, incomplete presentation of the data and selective reporting. Additionally, most included studies showed a lack of information concerning the blinding process of the subjects, therapists and investigators. The heterogeneity of the inclusion criteria, outcome measurements and treatments made data pooling or meta-analysis impossible. Conclusions: There is low quality evidence for a positive effect of conservative TMD treatment on tinnitus complaints. The combination of splint therapy and exercise treatment is currently the best investigated treatment approach, showing a decrease in tinnitus severity and intensity. Despite the low level of evidence and the methodological issues in the included studies, it is noteworthy that all included studies show positive treatment effects.
Journal: Journal of oral & facial pain and headache
ISSN: 2333-0384
Volume: 33
Pages: 308 - 317
Publication year:2019
Keywords:A1 Journal article
BOF-keylabel:yes
BOF-publication weight:1
CSS-citation score:2
Authors:International
Authors from:Higher Education
Accessibility:Open