Russian Doctors Olga A. Shakhmetova and Tatiana M.Sinitsina published this interesting article on treatment of patients with temporomandibular disorders reporting masticatory muscle measurements with standardized surface electromyography (ssEMG) method. The article presents the results of comprehensive approach to the treatment of temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD, which consisted in combination of occlusal therapy and muscle status correction with Botulinum Toxin A (BTX-A) injections or using centrally acting muscle relaxants. The study included 111 patients,

81 women and 30 men aged 18 to 45 years. According to the results of the clinical examination all patients were divided into two groups. The main group (91 patients) included patients with clinical signs of TMD. The control group (20 patients) consisted of patients without clinical signs of dysfunction and without malocclusion. The

groups were comparable in sex and age. Patients of the main group were divided into 2 subgroups: in the first sub group the patients received centrally action muscle relaxants (71 people), in the second the patients were treated with BTX-A injections into masticatory muscles (20 people). In both subgroups the treatment included

occlusal therapy. All patients were subjected to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the TMJ and masticatory muscles, as well as ultrasonography and surface Electromyography (EMG) of the masticatory muscles before and after treatment. As a result, a significant reduction in the pain syndrome, an improvement in the interrelation