Tinnitus, dizziness, and nonotologic otalgia improvement through temporomandibular disorder therapy

U.S. Air Force otologic patients seeking care at Wilford Hall Medical Center for tinnitus, dizziness, and/or nonotologic otalgia without an identifiable cause and presenting with temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptoms in the temple, jaw, or preauricular area or with otalgia at least once a month were referred to a TMD specialty clinic. The patients were provided a dental orthotic and TMD self-care instructions. After 3 months of orthotic wear, the percentages of patients reporting at least moderate symptom improvement of their tinnitus, dizziness, otalgia, and/or TMD were 64, 91, 87, and 92%, respectively. Follow-up telephone calls 6 months after completion of TMD therapy revealed that all patients maintained their symptom improvements. These findings imply that TMD was affecting the patients' otologic symptoms. Patients seeking care for tinnitus, dizziness, and/or nonotologic otalgia without an identifiable cause may have TMD, and their otologic symptoms may benefit from conservative reversible TMD therapy.