Female hormones fluctuation and chewing movement of patients with disc displacement

purpose: this study aimed to verify the influence of hormonal fluctuations on chewing movement in women with disc displacement (dd). methods: fourteen women with dd taking oral contraceptives (oc); 12 dd-free controls taking oc; 12 normally cycling women with dd; and 14 dd-free normally cycling women were included. the research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders diagnosed dd, and subjects without pain were selected. chewing movements were recorded using a kinesiograph. dependent variables were: vertical, lateral, and anterior-posterior amplitudes (mm), opening and closing velocity (mm/s), which was evaluated in 4 phases of 3 menstrual cycles, identified by ovulation test. data were submitted to mauchly's sphericity test, proc mixed for repeated measures, and tukey-kramer test (p ≤ 0.05). results: comparisons among menstrual cycle phases showed no differences in vertical (p = 0.25), lateral (p = 0.12), and anterior-posterior amplitudes (p = 0.61); as well as opening (p = 0.57) or closing velocity (p = 0.73). the oc use or presence of dd did not influence the variables (p > 0.05). conclusion: hormonal fluctuation did not influence chewing mandibular movement of women with dd.