PURPOSE: to check the presence and possible correlation between vocal disorders and temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJD) in teachers, from self-reported speech pathological, medical and dental evaluation data. METHODS: 29 public school teachers from the city of Sorocaba - SP took part in this study. The teachers filled out a questionnaire about vocal disorders and on TMJD. The four following assessments were performed: auditory-perceptive, ENT medical assessment, oral-facial mobility, and a dental assessment. The mentioning about three or more symptoms in the questionnaire determined 'presence' of vocal and TMJD complaint. Both auditory-perceptive and ENT evaluations concluded whether there was 'presence' of voice and laryngeal disorders. TMJD was considered present when three or more signs or symptoms, necessarily including pain, were registered during oral-facial mobility and dental assessments. For statistical analysis of the data the following tests were applied: Two Proportions Equality Test, Fischer's Exact Test and Kappa Agreement Test. RESULTS: among the participating subjects, 82.8% reported having a vocal disorder, and 62.1% reported TMJD symptoms; 51.7% showed vocal disorders in ENT evaluation, and 65.5% had TMJD according to dental assessments. When comparing vocal and TMJ disorder assessments, a significant correlation was present for auditory-perceptual and oral-facial mobility for TMJD, with a tendency towards significance also when applying the questionnaire. CONCLUSION: the results point towards confirming the presence of TMJ and vocal disorders in the group of teachers in this research, as well as positive correlations between these two disorders.
Voice; Voice Disorders; Faculty; Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome; Facial Pain
