Effects of High-Frequency Bio-Oxidative Ozone Therapy in Temporomandibular Disorder-Related Pain

OBJECTIVE: It was the aim of this study to compare the efficacy of ozone therapy and drug treatment in patients with painful temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder (TMD). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 63 patients with TMD were enrolled; 33 were treated with bio-oxidative therapy and 30 with a ketoprofen tablet thiocolchicoside capsule 2 × 1 for 7 days. Maximum voluntary interincisal mouth opening (MMO) was measured in millimeters using a scale and recorded during the pre- and posttreatment periods. The patients evaluated their subjective pain using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and the independent t test. RESULTS: The mean MMO of the group that received ozone therapy during the pretreatment period was 46.51 ± 8.2 mm, and it immediately increased to 48.78 ± 7.5 mm after 1 week of ozone therapy, which was statistically significant (p = 0.04). For those who received medication, the mean MMO during the pretreatment period was 46.30 mm, and at the end of 1 week it was 46.9 mm. In the ozone group, 29% of patients showed a gradual decrease in their VAS pain scores compared to pretreatment values (6.3 ± 2.1 to 3.0 ± 2.2). In the medication group, 24% of patients showed a significant decrease in VAS pain scores during the follow-up period (6.9 ± 1.4 to 5.0 ± 1.5). CONCLUSION: This study showed that bio-oxidative therapy was a more effective treatment than medication therapy for relieving TMJ pain.