INTRODUCTION: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) have association with psychological manifestations. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to correlate the severity of TMD and the level of self-esteem, and to investigate sex‑related differences. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We evaluated 57 subjects of both gender, with mean age of 20.28 ± 2.07 years, through the Fonseca Anamnesis Index (FAI) and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSS). Correlations between variables were performed using the Spearman correlation coefficient; comparisons between the genders were performed using the Mann-Whitney test. It was considered a significance level of 5%. RESULT: No differences were found for the comparisons between the gender in the FAI (p = 0.79) and the RSS (p = 0.90). RSS correlates with the FAI in women (p = 0.01), but in men this result does not occur (p = 0.07). CONCLUSION: We concluded that women are more likely to have emotional disturbances resulting from changes in the temporomandibular joint than men.
Self concept; temporomandibular joint disorders; gender identity