Abstract
Introduction The prevalence of tinnitus is higher in individuals with temporomandibular joint
disorder (TMD) than in the general population. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of
the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the method of choice for investigation, and it
has been hypothesized that specific MRI findings might be observed in TMD with comorbid
tinnitus.
Objective To comparatively describe MRI findings in patients with TMD with and without tinnitus,
identifying the most common TMJ alterations and determining whether a correlation
exists between severity of TMD and tinnitus.
Methods A cross-sectional study of 53 adult patients with bilateral or unilateral TMD (30
with and 23 without tinnitus). The association between tinnitus and morphological
aspects of TMD (changes in condylar morphology, articular eminence morphology, and
disc morphology), disc displacement (with/without reduction), condylar translation,
and intra-articular effusion was analyzed on MRI images.
Results The mean patient age was 46.12 ± 16.1 years. Disc displacement was the most common
finding in both groups (24 patients with tinnitus versus 15 without; p = 0.043). Only the frequency of disc displacement with reduction was significantly
different between groups.
Conclusion Additional imaging techniques should be explored to detect specific aspects of the
relationship between tinnitus and TMD.
Keywords magnetic resonance imaging - temporomandibular joint - temporomandibular joint disorders
- tinnitus
