Awareness and Knowledge of General Dental Practitioners in Central India Towards Management of Patients with Temporomandibular Disorder: A Questionnaire-based Survey

Introduction: Temporomandibular Disorders (TMDs) accounts for common Orofacial Pain (OFP) arising from musculoskeletal origins, affecting almost 80% of the overall population. The multifactorial nature of the disease makes it difficult to diagnose and treat and is challenging to a considerable number of General Dental Practitioners (GDPs). They're increasingly approached by patients for advice on TMD, but little is understood about how this disorder is addressed with in primary health care. Aim: To assess the awareness and knowledge regarding management of TMDs among GDPs in Central India. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at Central India, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India from 20th June 2020 to 12th December 2020, including 200 general dental practitioners, who were registered under the Dental Council of India. A questionnaire consisting of 17 questions with reference to TMDs was designed and the questionnaire was circulated through a web designed program. The responses were collected, and data were analysed descriptively using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistics for windows version 24.0. Results: The mean age of the participants in the study was 24.80 +/- 1.63 years. Predominantly, participants were 164 females (82%). Among all the participants, about 181 (90.50%) of GDP's were practicing Dentistry. The study findings suggest that the overall general practicing dentists encounter TMD cases and 162 (81%) of GDP's treat patient at their clinic. A 76% of GDPs acknowledged the causative factor for TMD to be multifactorial and physical examination (88.50%) as the diagnostic tool. Most of the general practitioners around 126 (63%) preferred referring the patient to the specialist, maxillofacial surgeon. Among the practitioners who were confident in treating TMD, occlusal splint was the treatment of choice for 198 (96%) of the GDPs. Conclusion: Many GDPs lack standard protocol knowledge, felt insecure in TMD diagnosis, therapy decisions and treatment. There is a requirement for better quality evidence on which TMD diagnosis and treatment, including the event of a valid, reproducible patient-centered outcome measure to enable dental practitioners to feel confident in managing TMD. It is essential to train GDPs to identify individuals with TMDs through professional courses and training. It would be highly beneficial to educate the undergraduates regarding the diagnosis of TMDs in their curriculum.