Studies on the relationship between malocclusion and mandibular dysfunction have been performed in adult subjects. Three samples have been examined: 56 patients with mandibular dysfunction, 389 men aged 21–54 years and 272 women aged 20–46 years. Approximately 25% of the men and the women had moderate or severe dysfunction according to the clinical dysfunction index. Fifteen per cent of the men and 34% of the women had subjective symptoms of dysfunction. Rotation of teeth was correlated with subjective symptoms of mandibular dysfunction in the men and the women. Angle class III malocclusion in the men and need for orthodontic treatment in the women showed the strongest correlation with the severity of clinical symptoms of dysfunction. Crossbite and frontal open bite were more prevalent in the patients with mandibular dysfunction than has been found in other studies. Most of these crossbites were associated with lateral displacements of the mandible between RP and IP. Bilateral crossbite showed a strong correlation to non-working side interference in the patients. The results also indicated that the aetiology of mandibular dysfunction is multifactorial. The implications of these results on orthodontic treatment indications and some aspects on when the treatment should be performed are discussed. Five case presentations are given to illustrate the possibilities of orthodontic treatment of adult patients with mandibular dysfunction.
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Mohlin et al. (1984) studied this question.