Introduction:

Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) are a major health problem in Peru.

Objective:

To determine the effectiveness of joint mobilization and low-power laser against joint mobilization in peoplewith TMD, treated in a hospital located in Lima-Peru.

Methods:

Longitudinal study with a quantitativeapproach, with a non-probabilistic sampling of 197 participants diagnosed with temporomandibulardisorders of both sexes, between 18 and 72 years old (median: 54, IR: 45-60), treated at the Hospital Central de las Fuerzas Aéreas del Perú. We took two groups of treatment into consideration: jointmobilization plus low-power laser (JMLPL) and only joint mobilization (JM). The outcomes were maximalunassisted mouth opening capacity (MUMO), pain at MUMO, and psychosocial aspects (depressive, anxiousand somatic symptoms), evaluated at 2, 4 and 8 weeks, where nonparametric statistics was used.

Results:

Improvement was found in all outcomes measured in both groups (p <0.05) with the exception of depression.JMLPL was better than JM regarding pain at MUMO, MUMO only at 2 weeks, anxiety at 4 and 8 weeks andsomatization only at 8 weeks.

Conclusion:

Improvements were found in reduction of pain at MUMO, MUMO and in the indexes of psychosocial aspects in both groups. JMLPL was better than only JM regarding pain at MUMO, MUMO only at 2 weeks, anxiety at 4 and 8 weeks, and somatization at 8 weeks.

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