Kiefergelenkbeschwerden — ein weichteilrheumatisches Symptom?

Summary

Jaw complaints, formerly also called Costen syndrome, are now usually defined as temporomandibular-joint-dysfunction syndromes.In 62 female patients, mainly secretarial or office personnel aged 20–61 years, who were medically treated for “complaints of the temporomandibular joint”, the “pain status” was stated for all parts of the body. Strinkingly, 37 of these patients had undergone medical treatment for pains in other parts of the body, particularly in the lower spine, the hip-joint area, and of the joints of the fifth finger was particularly frequent. From the point of view of occupational medicine it is interesting that a discrepancy between the objective pain status and the frequency of absence from work was obvious. These workers were highly regarded for their trustworthiness. Spot checks of their personality structures showed a tendency to introversion. As to their age, it is further surprising that these workers are statistically related, not only to the “typical temporomandibular joint pain patient”, but also to “the typical fibrosity or soft-tissue rheumatism patient”. In the literature, even previously, a possible relation between these clinical symptoms had been assumed. According to our diagnosis, it might be justified to consider “temporomandibular joint dysfunction syndrome” as a “symptom of generalized fibrositis or soft-tissue rheumatism”.