Quality of life, patient satisfaction and treatment outcomes following temporomandibular joint arthroplasty in two University Hospitals in Norway: A 5-year retrospective evaluation

This study aimed to evaluate quality of life (QoL), patient satisfaction and clinical treatment outcomes five years after temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthroplasty with or without interpositional graft. The oral impact on daily performance (OIDP) and the oral health impact profile-temporomandibular disorder-22 (OHIP-TMD-22) questionnaires, satisfaction scores, pain intensity (visual analogue scale, VAS) and maximal incisal opening (MIO) were evaluated in 42 patients (females 81 %). In total 62 % arthroplasties were successful. Success rate alone for MIO was 90 % and for VAS-pain 68 %. Most patients (59 %) were satisfied or very satisfied with the treatment. There was a significant difference in median total postoperative OHIP-TMD-22 score between the successful group (44.0) and the failure group (72.0) (p < 0.001), in the overall pre- (p = 0.014) and postoperative (p = 0.001) total OIDP-score, and between pre- and postoperative score in the successful group (p = 0.001) but not in the failure group alone. Complications occured such as temporal facial nerve damage after the use of temporalis fascia grafting, or unilateral open bite after the use of fat/dermis-fat graft. TMJ arthroplasties with or without interpositional graft significantly improved QoL, satisfaction, function and pain in patients with TMJ ankylosis. Careful consideration is advised when evaluating young patients for TMJ surgery with previous invasive treatment, high preoperative OIDP-score and rheumatic disease.