Prevalence of Temporomandibular Disorders in Children age 7-9 years in Primary Schools of Tehran

Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) was generally Presumed to be a condition affecting only adults. However, epidemiological studies have reported incidences of TMD to be just as high in children. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of signs and symptoms of TMD in children aged 7-9 years in schools of Tehran in 2010. In this descriptive study 400 subjects (Male195- Female205), 7-9 years of age in schools of Tehran were (sampling multi stage) randomly selected. The questionaire was completed by all the individuals and clinical examination was carried out with Research Diagnostic criteria. Prevalence of TMD in samples were determined and the relationship between relevant factors like bruxism, posterior crossbite, anterior open bite, deep bite, Trauma gender and occlusal problem was evaluated by chi Square analysis. our study indicated that at least one sign and symptom was present in 65.2% of Children. Bruxism, Class III, deep bite were significantly related with TMD (P<0.05). There is a high prevalence of TMD in pediatric patient due to: lack of parental attention, misdiagnosis by medical professional, and inability of pediatric patients to properly explain and identify their symptoms.