TINNITUS IN PATIENTS WITH TEMPOROMANDIBULAR-JOINT INTERNAL DERANGEMENT

Tinnitus has commonly been reported in patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders. The aim of this study was to determine if ther e was any correlation between arthrographically verified disk displace ment of the TMJ and ear symptoms related to tinnitus. Fifty-three pati ents with unilateral tinnitus and disk displacement and 82 individuals with disk displacement, but no tinnitus, were analyzed. Disk displace ment was found to be present in the ipsilateral joint in all 53 patien ts with unilateral tinnitus, while the contralateral joint was asympto matic in 50 (94.3%) of them. Patients with tinnitus suffered more exte nsive and intense pain in the ore-facial area compared to patients wit hout tinnitus. The results of this study revealed a significant correl ation between internal derangement of the TMJ and tinnitus.