A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Brief Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders: Sensitivity and Specificity of Clinical Diagnoses (A Multi‐Center Study)




AuthorsNykänen, Laura; Sipila, Kirsi; Eli, Ilana; Freidman-Rubin, Pessia; Keren, Lihi; Kamppi, Antti; Napankangas, Ritva; Tamar, Shalev Antshel; Tanner, Johanna; Teerijoki-Oksa, Tuija; Winocur, Ephraim; Emodi-Perlman, Alona

PublisherWiley

Publishing placeHOBOKEN

Publication year2025

JournalJournal of Oral Rehabilitation

Journal name in sourceJournal of Oral Rehabilitation

Journal acronymJ ORAL REHABIL

Number of pages8

ISSN0305-182X

eISSN1365-2842

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/joor.13969(external)

Web address https://doi.org/10.1111/joor.13969(external)


Abstract

Background: The brief Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (bDC/TMD) was recently published to simplify the full Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) protocol.

Objective: To measure the inter-examiner reliability, sensitivity and specificity of bDC/TMD Axis I diagnoses against DC/TMD Axis I diagnoses in primary and tertiary clinic TMD patient populations.

Methods: A multi-center (Finland, Israel) retrospective study on 334 patients' records was conducted. A full DC/TMD clinical examination data was reduced to bDC/TMD items. Five Level 3 calibrated examiners independently determined a bDC/TMD diagnosis. Inter-examiner reliability, sensitivity and specificity were calculated for individual diagnoses, using DC/TMD diagnosis as the reference standard.

Results: Inter-examiner reliability showed excellent to good reliability in all diagnoses except headache attributed to TMD, in which it was fair. Apart from headache attributed to TMD, the sensitivity of individual pain diagnoses was high. The sensitivity was lower in joint diagnoses. The specificity was high in all diagnoses.

Conclusion: The bDC/TMD is a reliable instrument for general practitioner use.



Last updated on 2025-06-06 at 08:52