Influencia de los cambios hormonales del ciclo menstrual en la percepción del dolor en las disfunciones temporomandibulares. Una revisión sistemática de la literatura médica

A large body of evidence suggests that temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJD) are much more prevalent in women than in men. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine whether hormone levels during the menstrual cycle influence TMJD when painful symptoms are present. A data extraction search strategy was performed in the Medline, Embase, Scielo and CINAHL databases from 1970 to 2008. We included cohort and case-control studies assessing several pain variables in patients with TMJD during the menstrual cycle. The quality of the studies was assessed by two independent reviewers using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Four studies that met the proposed inclusion criteria were included for the qualitative analysis. The results of the studies analyzed are contradictory and consequently do not allow us to conclude that female hormone factors strongly influence pain perception in TMJD. Therefore, further studies are required to investigate the various female sex-related factors that could be involved in TMJD.