Anterior Repositioning Splint With or Without Arthrocentesis and Platelet-rich Plasma Injection In TMD Patients With Anterior Disc Displacement With Reduction: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Anterior repositioning splint (ARS) allows the mandible to assume an anterior position to centric occlusion, providing a more favorable condyle-disc relationship in the fossa so that normal function can be established. The goal is to eliminate the signs and symptoms associated with disc-interference disorders. Maintaining the mandible in a temporary therapeutic position in which click is eliminated and thereby allowing the disc to reposition

A study by (Mohamed & Abd el Azizi, 2021) Found that ARS showed a significant reduction of pain and increase in maximum mouth opening after 1 month and an increase in MMO. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a therapeutic agent consisting essentially of a platelet concentrate and associated growth factors taken and centrifuged from a sample of the patient's blood. It was initially introduced in the fields of stomatology, maxillofacial/plastic surgery, and reconstructive surgery in the 1990s and its clinical use is due to its potential healing properties through cell recruitment, proliferation, differentiation, and consequently, tissue remodeling. It has been found to have several advantages over the use of corticosteroids in the treatment of TMJ degenerative and inflammatory conditions, the most remarkable being its lack of serious and/or irreversible adverse effects. Treatment with PRP injections has reported anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antibacterial properties and, at the same time, restores intra-articular levels of hyaluronic acid, increases glycosaminoglycan chondrocyte synthesis, balances joint angiogenesis, and induces stem cell migration.

Explanation for choice of comparators:

Anterior repositioning splint (ARS) therapy is a common conservative method for treating disc-displacement-related (TMDs). ARS can be fixed on the maxilla or mandible and it usually maintains the protrusion status through an anterior guidance ramp The protrusion of the mandible changes the disc condyle relationship and is widely used in intra-articular TMD treatment. This method can significantly improve pain symptoms. Thus, it can also be used in pain-related TMDs.