M. Pavithra, M. Arvind. Effectiveness Of Acupuncture In The Management Of Patients With Temporomandibular Joint Disorders: A Pilot Study. Int J Dentistry Oral Sci. 2021;8(10):4837-4841. 4837 OPEN ACCESS https://scidoc.org/IJDOS.php Effectiveness Of Acupuncture In The Management Of Patients With Temporomandibular Joint Disorders: A Pilot Study Research Article International Journal of Dentistry and Oral Science (IJDOS) ISSN: 2377-8075 *Corresponding Author: Dr. M. Pavithra, Post Graduate Resident, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SIMATS, Chennai, 600007, India. E-mail: 152010001.sdc@saveetha.com Received: April 25, 2021 Accepted: October 18, 2021 Published: October 25, 2021 Citation: M. Pavithra, M. Arvind. Effectiveness Of Acupuncture In The Management Of Patients With Temporomandibular Joint Disorders: A Pilot Study. Int J Dentistry Oral Sci. 2021;8(10):4837-4841. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.19070/2377-8075-21000978 Copyright: M. Pavithra © 2021. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. M. Pavithra 1* , M. Arvind 2 1 Post Graduate Resident, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SIMATS, Chennai, 600007, India. 2 Professor and Head of the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SIMATS, Chennai, 600007, India. Introduction Acupuncture (acus=needle and puncture=prick) is one of the keycomponents of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In this alternative form of medicine, thin needles are inserted into the body [1]. It was believed to have originated around 100 B.C in China. Earlier instead of needles sharpened stones and longsharp bones were used around 6000BCE for acupuncture treatment. It- developedoverthe next few centuries and gradually became one of the standard therapies used in China. It was complementedand supported by use of diet, massage, herbs and heat therapy.[5] It was in the 15th century that Bronze statues with acupuncture points that are in use today were depicted. The Communist Gov- ernment in 1949 revived the traditional forms of medicine includ- ing acupuncture. Acupuncture research institutes were established in the 1950s throughout China and the practice became available in several hospitals. It was accepted in the USA when an NIH consensus conference reported that there was positive evidence for its effectiveness.[9] Acupuncture works on the stimulation of specifc anatomic skin points, which are known as acupoints or acupuncture points.(3) It aims at healing, preventing diseases and developing body balance by establishing the lost harmony between physical and psychic- parts. There are various methods in acupuncture. Among them, Needle therapy is one of the most commonly used methods. Oth- er methods include, application of heat therapy, laser, electricity and with suction cups. Since it is a pseudoscience, it is assumed to be works on the principle of qi.[14] However, there is no proven theory of acupuncture mechanism, but there are various models and hypotheses for different clinical applications. Temporomandibular joint disorders is a non-specifc diagnosis which represents a heterogeneous groups of orofacial painful or masticatory dysfunctional conditions. [14, 7] It can also involve muscles of mastication. The etiology of temporomandibular joint disorders were multifactorial. [8] Some ofthem include occlusal abnormalities, post orthodontic treatment, trauma, joint laxity, Abstract Background: Acupuncture is one of the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It is widely used in the management of pain. Temporomandibular joint disorders symptoms include chronic orofacial pain, trismus, clicking. The main aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture in the management of patients with temporomandibular joint disorders Methods: This study was conducted in the department of Oral Medicine and Radiology with the sample size of 6 patients in the time period of January 2021-February 2021. Each patient was subjected to three 20-minute needle therapy acupuncture session, once a week. Pain was measured by the visual analog scale (VAS) during each visit. Results: Kruskalwallis test was used to fnd the difference between mean values of VAS scores between three follow-ups. Level of signifcance was set at p value less than 0.05. Based on the statistical analysis it was found that mean of third visit VAS was signifcantly lower than mean of frst visit VAS in 4 patients, with one drop out. There was no improvement of VAS in one patient Conclusion: Results of this pilot study show that acupuncture sessions were effective in four patients in which pain intensity is reduced when comparing to their frst session. No adverse reactions were evident during the period of study Keywords: TMD; Acupuncture; VAS, Muscle Oain, Mobility Disorders.