Use of drug therapy as an adjunct in the stabilization of the pain in patients with temporomandibular disorders

Abstract

Pain is the main complaint in patients with temporomandibular disorders - TMD - and its control should have absolute priority in the treatment of TMD. Pharmacological intervention has been used for many years. The choice of medication that will be used for pain relief is directly related to the stage and intensity reported by the patient, and these will determine which classes of drugs are effective, the period of use and the adverse effects. The usual drug classes used includes: analgesics, muscle relaxants, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antidepressants, anxiolytics, anticonvulsants, corticosteroidsThe objective of this eview is to approach the most common pharmacological agents used as adjuncts in the treatment of patients with painful symptoms resulting from TMD, and further to analyze the pharmacological  logic. Articles between 1955 and 2021 were selected through the BV Salud, Scielo  and Pubmed databases. Articles related to the topic “drug therapy in pain control in patients with TMD” will be included in the eligibility list, emphasizing the previously mentioned drug classes. Articles that didn’t have full text or the abstract didn’t directly refered to the topic were excluded. In this way, this literature review serves as a way of adding knowledge from a theoretic point of view and help the prescriber on choosing the best drug for each patient, taking into account the type, duration and intensity of each case, so that later, there is a definitive treatment of the case.

Keywords: Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome , medication
therapy management, facial pain