946 © 1998 Blackwell Science Ltd Journal of Oral Rehabilitation 1998 25; 946–953 Self-reported symptoms of temporomandibular dysfunction in a female university student population in Saudi Arabia B.J. ZULQARNAIN, N. KHAN* & S. KHATTAB Department of Preventive Dental Sciences and *Division of Biostatistics, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia SUMMARY The symptoms of temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD), reported by 705 female university students of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, are analysed. The population is representative of the educated class of Saudi Arabia. The most frequently reported symptoms were jaw feeling tired (34·5%), awareness of uncomfortable bite (31·3%), pain in front of the ear (22·4%) and discomfort upon wide opening (22·4%). The frequency of subjective reactions was, pain interferes with activity (42%), Introduction Pain and tenderness of masticatory muscles, TMJ sounds, and limitation of mandibular movement are accepted as the cardinal sign s and symptoms of temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD). Epidemio- logical studies have generally concentrated more on such signs and symptoms, usually self reported, than on the various disorders of the temporomandibular joint (Carlsson & DeBoever, 1994). The aetiology of TMD remains controversial. The relative importance of local, especially occlusal factors, social conditions, psychologic and health status are still under discussion (Carlsson, Kopp & Wodel, 1982). Boman (1947) reported that one-third of his 1350 adults patients had or previously had symptoms of arthrosis. Brussel (1949) reported that of the 85 students studied, 59% had two or more clinical progressive symptoms involving the TMJ. Markowitz & Gerry (1949) reported that about 28% of the 700 selected young healthy men (aged 19–30 years) they examined, disturbed sleep (40·6%), taking of medication (27·8%) and pain being frustrating or depressing (26·8%). Some interesting relationships were found between the reported symptoms and marital status, residence and college of education. These findings are similar to those reported in a Bedouin community in Egypt, but lower than that in a Saudi Arabian population attending dental clinics, Saudi male dental students and high school students. had some sort of TMJ abnormality, e.g. pain, clicking, and snapping. Rantanen (1954) found 24% of 2218 undergraduate students to have some type of TMJ sound, or other disturbances of mandibular movements, with symptoms more common in females (30%) than in males (18%). However, neither the definitions, nor the examination methods used in the above-mentioned early studies appear to meet current requirements for the epidemio- logical investigations of the functional disorders of the masticatory system. More recently, Agerberg & Carlsson (1972, 1973) reported that more than half of their, 15–74 years old population sample had at least one symptoms of dysfunction of the masticatory system, while almost one-third had two or more symptoms. Helkimo (1974) found that 43% of 15–65 years cohorts were aware of symptoms of different types in association with mandibular movements, usually TMJ sound. Solberg, Woo & Houston, (1979) found subjective symptoms in 26%, and objective signs in 76% of university students,