Deep pain sensitivity is correlated with oral-health-related quality of life but not with prosthetic factors in complete denture wearers

Low pressure pain threshold (ppt) is considered a risk factor for temporomandibular disorders (tmd) and is influenced by psychologiical variables. objectives: to correlate deep pain sensitivity of masticatory muscles with prosthetic factors and oral-health-related quality of life (ohrqol) in completely edentulous subjects. material and methods: a total of 29 complete denture wearers were recruited. the variables were: a) pressure pain threshold (ppt) of the masseter and temporalis; b) retention,stability,and tooth wear of dentures; c) vertical dimension of occlusion (vdo); d) oral health impact profile (ohip) adapted to orofacial pain. the kolmogorov-smirnov test,the pearson product-moment correlation coefficient,the spearman rank correlation coefficient,the point-biserial correlation coefficient,and the bonferroni correction (α=1%) were applied to the data. results: the mean age (standard deviation) of the participants was of 70.1 years (9.5) and 82% of them were females. there were no significant correlations with prosthetic factors,but significant negative correlations were found between the ohip and the ppt of the anterior temporalis (r=-0.50,95% ci-0.73 to 0.17,p=0.005). discussion: the deep pain sensitivity of masticatory muscles in complete dentures wearers is associated with ohrqol,but not with prosthetic factors. © 2015,faculdade de odontologia de bauru. all rights reserved.