Diagnóstico e prevalência das disfun es temporomandibulares em graduandos do curso de Odontologia da ULBRA Canoas/RS

It was proposed in this paper a study on the diagnosis and prevalence of signs and symptoms of Temporo--Mandibular Dysfunction (TMD) in students of Dentistry of Lutheran University of Brazil Canoas/RS. The sample comprised 280 individuals, average of 23.5 years, and 71 (25.35%) were male and 209 (74.64%) female. The evaluation was performed using the questionnaire proposed by Fonseca (1992), used to classify the severity of TMD and to obtain epidemiological data. Data analysis was used descriptive statistics and Chi-square for the cross between variables. The results showed that only 1 (0.4%) individuals did not show some degree of TMD, 83 (29.69%) had mild TMD, 171 (61.1%) moderate TMD and 25 (8.9%) TMD severe. Students in any degree with TMD showed remarkable features such as: 79 (28.2%) considered themselves tense people; 78 (27.85%), clenching or grinding teeth, 84 (30.4%) had TMJ sounds, 74 (26.4%) presented with headache frequency and 52 (18.6%) had neck pain or torticollis. It was observed a high prevalence of TMD in the population studied, suggesting the need to include examination for signs and symptoms of TMD, as a routine for the general practitioner as well as other specialities.