• Wantanee Mutirangura DDS., MS., Diplomate, Thai Board of Oral Diagnostic Sciences
• Prapaporn Homjunjeerung
• Sajjaporn Pakanan

Objectives To follow-up and determine causes of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) treatment
drop-out.

Materials and methods Self-administered questionnaires were mailed to 316 TMD drop-out
patients, treated at Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University.

Results There were 77 respondents (response rate 24.3%). They were 17 males (22.1%) and 60
females (77.9%). The group presented 58 patients (75.3%) sought treatment for more than one
symptom, and temporomandibular joint sound was the primary chief complaint (31.1%). All
subjects received conservative treatment, which was the mainly use of occlusal appliance. The
results were as follows. 1. There were 55 remained symptoms persons (71.4%) after dropping
out treatment. The persistent symptoms were not different significantly from the symptoms
before treatment except the limitation of mouth opening (p = 0.013). The further treatment
was required by 43 persons (78.2%) but not by 12 persons (21.8%). 2. The treatment remission
reasons were: symptoms were bearable (37.7%), symptoms were thought incurable (32.5%),
government office hours were not convenient (31.2%), transportation was not convenient (26.0%),
there was no contact (20. 8%), and other.

Conclusion This study suggests that the TMD patient may have sustained symptoms after treatment
remission, and several reasons are the cause of dropping out treatment.

(CU Dent J. 2007;30:117-28)