The aim of this study was to evaluate headaches before and after treatment with a stabilisation appliance and a control appliance in a randomised controlled trial in patients having temporomandibular disorders (TMD) of mainly arthrogenous origin. The effect of treatment was evaluated both in a short and in long-term perspective. 60 patients (mean age 30 years) with TMD of mainly arthrogenous origin were studied. The patients were seleceted from patients referred for treatment of TMD during a 3-year period to the Department of Stomathognathic Physiology, Faculty of Odontology, Malmo University. The 60 patients included in the study were randomly assigned to a treatment (T) or a control (C) group, The study was performed as a randomised controlled trial including evaluation of treatment effect on tension-type headache after 10 weeks, 6 and 12 months. At the 10 weeks follow-up, the patients who reported a negative treatment outcome and/or discomfort associated with the use of the appliances had their appliances readjusted. Patients who demanded further treatment recieved a stabilisation appliance (21 patients from the C-group), creating a new mixed (M) group. All the 60 patients reported frequency of headache from rarely up to daily at the start of the study. In the T-group 76% and in the C-group 83% of the patients reported headache at least once a week or more before treatment. At the 10 weeks follow-up, a statistically significant difference was found regarding headache several times a week or more between the T-and C-groups and within the T-group. At the 6 months follow-up, a statistically significant reduction was found in headache several times a week or more in the T- and M-groups. The number of patients with headache once a week or more decreased significantly in the T- and M-groups at the 12 months follow-up. We conclude that the stabilisation appliance seems to have an effect on the frequency of tension-type headache both in a short and in a long-term perspective in patients with TMD of mainly arthrogenous origin.
