Effectiveness of Direct Bite Raiser Onlays in Patients Affected By Temporomandibular Disorders: A Retrospective Observational Study

This retrospective observational study aims to assess the effectiveness of direct bite raiser onlays (DBRO) on pain and dysfunctional symptoms in patients affected by pain-related temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Furthermore, it wants to provide descriptive information about the clinical performance of the treatment. We screened the electronic medical records of male and female patients with a diagnosis of pain-related temporomandibular disorders treated with DBRO. A data collection was performed from patients routinely gathered clinical records. A final sample of 43 patients was included in the analysis. At the beginning of treatment all patients (100%) referred having pain and 12 patients (27.9%) complained about both pain and functional limitation. At the end of the treatment, 36 patients (83.7%) were symptom-free. In 5 subjects (11.6%), pain was still present but reduced in intensity. In 2 subjects (16.6%) functional limitations were improved but not completely resolved. During the treatment that lasted on average 8 months a mean of 7 checks have been carried out; the occlusal changes made on the DBRO had been on average 3. In 23 patients (53.5%) initial discomfort occurred after the beginning of treatment. The first beneficial effect was obtained on average on the fifth week of therapy. The results of this retrospective observational study should be treated cautiously because of the limitations of the study design but suggest that patients with a diagnosis of pain-related temporomandibular disorders who are treated with direct bite raiser onlays experience a reduction in pain and dysfunctional symptoms.