Aim

To determine prevalence of temporomandibular joint disorder in resident physicians at the Specialty Hospital.

Material and methods

Cross sectioned prospective, observational study. Out of a total of 324, 50 residents were assessed, including non surgical and surgical specialties of different residency years. Residents under orthodontic treatment or having been subjected to previous orthodontic treatment were excluded. Helkimo index was applied for temporomandibular joint diagnostic purposes A physical exploration of the temporomandibular joint and masticatory muscles was later conducted.

Results

For result evaluation, descriptive statistics and chi-square (χ2) test were used. Statistical package SPSS 12 was used. Prevalence of temporomandibular disorder in residents was 66% of studied population. Significant result was obtained with respect to gender; it being higher in females with p ≤ .013. Greater incidence was observed in the first residency years, as well as in non surgical specialties when compared to surgical ones.

Conclusions

Prevalence of residents’ temporomandibular disorder was similar to that reported worldwide in general population. The present study equally found greater prevalence in females. It would be significant to conduct another study to measure stress in resident physicians and relationship of stress with temporomandibular disorders.