Physical and Psycho-social Characteristics of Occlusal Dysesthesia

Dentists sometimes experience patients called as occlusal dysesthesia (OD), who complain bite discomfort without evident occlusal abnormalities. It is suggested this condition is related to sensory abnormalities of the trigeminal system and/or psychological problems such as somatoform disorders.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of OD with a physical and psycho-social approach.

Methods: Twelve OD patients (10 females, 2 males; 54.7y) and twelve sex and age matched healthy volunteers (10 females, 2 males; 54.8y) were selected. They were assessed with interdental thickness discrimination ability test using 2-, 5- and 10-mm thickness standard blocks and 12 test blocks which were thinner or thicker from the corresponding standard block; psychological tests (GHQ60, POMS brief-form); and medical interview.

Results: There was no significant difference in the interdental thickness discrimination ability between OD patients and controls (P=1.000, two-way repeated-measures ANOVA). Wilcoxon test revealed no significant differences between OD patients and controls in the total scores for either GHQ60 (P=0.143) or POMS brief-form (P=0.319). However, OD patients showed significant differences from controls in the following sub-scales: ‘somatic symptoms' (P=0.039) and ‘depression' (P=0.039) for GHQ60, and ‘depression-dejection' (P=0.014) and ‘vigor' (P=0.008) for POMS brief-form. Medical interview showed the events involved in the onset of occlusal discomfort were dental treatment in all patients, but OD patients showed diverse clinical backgrounds such as duration, the number of clinics visited, dental and medical history, and intraoral condition.

Conclusions: These results suggest there is no difference in interdental thickness discrimination ability between OD patients and normal controls. It is also suggested that OD patients tend to have psychosomatic problems, but it is difficult to diagnose OD only by their clinical background.