Oral health‐related quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis of the temporomandibular joint—Results of a systematic review

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this systematic review was to assess the oral health‐related quality of life (OHRQoL) of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). METHODS: This systematic literature search applied the search terms "oral health‐related quality of life AND osteoarthritis of jaw OR arthritis of temporomandibular joint AND oral health‐related quality of life" in PubMed, Medline, Web of Science and Scopus. Eligibility criteria were publication until 31 August 2021, examination of children or adults with OA of TMJ, reporting of any OHRQoL measurement and a full text in English language. Two different, independent and experienced reviewers performed this systematic literature search. The analysis of respective data was qualitative. For quality appraisal, the available checklist from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was applied. RESULTS: Out of 102 findings, eight studies were included in qualitative analysis. Seven clinical investigations were performed in adults aged between 34 and 43 years. The other included study was performed on children. The quality of two studies was moderate, and six studies were evaluated as of high quality. Most studies applied the 14‐item short form of the oral health impact profile (OHIP 14) for assessment of OHRQoL. OHIP 14 ranged between 9.24 and 38.86 points in means of sum score. Comparison with healthy individuals revealed worse OHRQoL of OA patients in two studies. Associations between OHRQoL with either oral health, general quality of life or disease‐related parameters were rarely reported and heterogeneous. Five of the included studies reported subscales of OHIP 14, showing an impairment in all subscales. CONCLUSIONS: There are hints that patients with OA of the TMJ show a reduced OHRQoL. More studies are needed, especially regarding oral health, disease‐related parameters and pain intensity and its potential influence on OHRQoL.