Does Temporomandibular Joint Magnetic Resonance Imaging Diagnosis Support Clinical Examination Diagnosis Following Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders?

PURPOSE

The Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) has been validated as a clinical diagnostic guideline with high-sensitivity and -specificity in identifying TMDs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the agreement between DC/TMD diagnoses and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnoses in patients with TMD.

METHODS

A prospective cohort study was conducted on patients with TMD. The predictor variable was the clinical diagnosis of TMD based on DC/TMD criteria. The outcome variable was the MRI diagnosis of TMD. The diagnoses used for both the predictor variable and the outcome variable were the same. They were normal, disc displacement with reduction (DDWR), DDWR with intermittent locking, disc displacement without reduction (DDWOR) with limited opening, DDWOR without limited opening, degenerative joint disease, and subluxation. Age and gender of the patients and number of joints evaluated were covariates. Each subject had clinical examination performed by two independent Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. All subjects had a bilateral temporomandibular joint (TMJ) MRI performed which was evaluated by a radiologist. The correlation between the clinical and MRI diagnoses was calculated using Cohen's kappa value with a P value of <.05 considered significant.

RESULTS

A total of fifty patients (100 TMJs) were enrolled with 38 females and 12 males. The mean ages were 31.92 and 31.75 years, respectively, with a total of 100 TMJs analyzed. Internal derangement was clinically identified in 76% of the joints and with MRI in 69% of joints. The Cohen's kappa value between DC/TMD and MRI diagnoses was found to be κ = 0.720 (P < .01). The respective sensitivity and specificity in determining disc position clinically for DDWR was 1 and 0.96; for DDWR with intermittent locking 0.78 and 0.91; for DDWOR with limited opening 0.9 and 0.98; for DDWOR without limited opening 1 and 0.9; for degenerative joint disease 0.63 and 0.97 and for subluxation 0.28 and 1.00.

CONCLUSION

The DC/TMD clinical examination performed well in all types of disc displacement but is less reliable than MRI in detecting the presence of degenerative disc diseases and subluxation.