Prevalence of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in obesity patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: Obesity is a growing epidemic in the world. It increases the risk for severe health conditions, including diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Recent research has found that obesity is associated with an increased risk for temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). The purpose of this literature review with meta-analysis is to analyse the possible association between obesity and temporomandibular disorders.

Materials and methods: Pubmed, Web of Science and Lilacs were systematically searched until 01/03/2000. Articles dealing with TMD and obesity were selected, and numbers that might be useful in the meta-analysis were extracted.

Results: Fifty articles were chosen after using all three search engines. Thirty-five articles were considered during the initial screening step. Four papers were chosen for title and abstract screening based on the PECO model. A manual search of bibliographies and the Cochrane database was also carried out, but no publications that matched the inclusion criteria were located. The articles and meta-analysis did not show a clear association between obesity and temporomandibular disorders.

Conclusion: There is no evidence regarding the reliability of either method. Both have superimposable results.