INTRODUCTION: Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) is an extremely important structure, high complexity, and susceptibility to disfunction. Tempromandibular Disorder (TMD) is a set of clinical manifestations of poor mandibular function, associated or not with pain and is a rather frequent in the population. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of TMD in deaf and describe the signs and symptoms, assessed by the Index of Clinical Helkimo more frequent in the groups surveved. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is an epidemiologicalstudy, analytical, and quantitative comparison was conduted with 45 deaf and 45 listeners, men and women aged between 18 and 63 years. The participants underwent an evaluation form consisting of personal questions and deleterious habits, then we applied the Index of Clinical Helkimo, which allows a functional evaluation of the chewing system. RESULTS: The prevalence of TMD was high in two groups, but there was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of TMD (p = 0.372) in the groups surveyed. CONCLUSION: No significant difference was found between studied groups with respect to the presence of TMD. The deaf and hearing patients with TMD had similar clinical changes.
Temporomandibular Joint; Temporomandibular disorder; Deaf
