Prevalence of temporomandibular disorders and its correlation with stress and salivary cortisol levels among students

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in students and to evaluate if any relationship existed between the stress levels, salivary cortisol levels, and TMD. Material and Methods: A total of 348 students, 187 female, and 161 male students, participated in this cross-sectional study. Students were evaluated based on the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD. The stress levels were evaluated using the Perceived Stress Scale. The students were divided into the control and TMD groups. Salivary cortisol levels in the salivary samples were analyzed. Results: The prevalence rate of TMDs was 30.7% in the study population. Of the female students, 61% had TMD compared with 46% of male students. Muscle disorders were the most predominant disorder in 14.2% of the students with TMD. The TMD group showed significantly higher salivary cortisol and stress levels than the control group. The TMD group also showed a moderate positive correlation between cortisol and stress levels (p=0.01). Conclusion: The study showed a strong association between salivary cortisol levels, stress, and temporomandibular disorders. Salivary cortisol could be used as a prognostic biomarker for stress while assessing the severity of TMJ problems in stressed individuals.