Tinnitus, dizziness, and nonotologic otalgia improvement through temporomandibular disorder therapy

U.S. Air Force otologic patients seeking care at Wilford Hall Medical Cente r for tinnitus, dizziness, and/or nonotologic otalgia without an identifiab le cause and presenting with temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptoms in t he temple, jaw, or preauricular area or with otalgia at least once a month were referred to a TMD specialty clinic. The patients were provided a denta l orthotic and TMD self-care instructions. After 3 months of orthotic wear, the percentages of patients reporting at least moderate symptom improvemen t of their tinnitus, dizziness, otalgia, and/or TMD were 64, 91, 87, and 92 %, respectively. Follow-up telephone calls 6 months after completion of TMD therapy revealed that all patients maintained their symptom improvements. These findings imply that TMD was affecting the patients' otologic symptoms . Patients seeking care for tinnitus, dizziness, and/or nonotologic otalgia without an identifiable cause may have TMD, and their otologic symptoms ma y benefit from conservative reversible TMD therapy.