Background: Although females comprise the majority of patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), few studies have prioritised the influence of sex on symptom severity and impact.
Objectives: This cross-sectional study investigated sex-related differences in TMD symptom severity, jaw functional limitation (JFL) and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL); examined their interrelationships by sex; and identified symptom-specific factors linked to high JFL and low OHRQoL.
Methods: Consecutively enrolled patients completed a survey including demographics, the Four-Dimensional Six TMD symptoms (6Ts-4D) screener, JFL Scale-8 (JFLS-8) and Oral Health Impact Profile for TMDs (OHIP-TMD). TMD diagnostic subtypes were subsequently determined according to the DC/TMD protocol. Data were evaluated using chi-square, non-parametric tests and logistic regression (α = 0.05).
Results: Among 280 participants (mean age 31.2 years [SD 11.8]), 79.3% were female. Females showed significantly higher rates of combined pain-related and intra-articular TMDs, more TMD symptoms, more severe headaches, greater JFL and poorer overall OHRQoL than males. They also demonstrated stronger correlations between global TMD severity and OHRQoL dimensions (rs = 0.38-0.66), as well as between JFL and OHRQoL (rs = 0.48-0.79). Multivariate analysis revealed that high JFL was significantly associated with jaw muscle pain (OR 1.22), jaw joint pain (OR 1.21), TMJ closed-lock (OR 1.24) and open-lock (OR 1.25), while low OHRQoL was related to jaw muscle pain (OR 1.16), jaw joint pain (OR 1.24), headache (OR 1.23) and TMJ closed-lock (OR 1.13).
Conclusions: Findings support sex-informed TMD care, though generalizability is constrained by study design and sample composition.
Keywords: jaw function; oral health‐related quality of life; symptoms; temporomandibular disorders.
© 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.