• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.193-200
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• 2020

This study used a structured questionnaire to analyze the effects of oral habits and stress on temporomandibular disorders in high school students. A total of 339 students attending high schools in Ulsan agreed to participate in the study. Data was analyzed using the SPSS Statistics ver. 18.0 for Windows program, t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation, and regression analysis. Our results reveal that the temporomandibular disorder index is statistically correlated with the oral habit index, school life stress index, family life stress index, interpersonal stress index, and egosphere stress index (p≤0.01). The oral habit index had maximum influence on the temporomandibular disorder index. Moreover, higher the stress level in egosphere stress, greater significant differences were observed in the temporomandibular disorder index (p≤0.01). In other words, persistence of oral habits and non-addressal of stress increased the likelihood of experiencing temporomandibular disorders in adulthood. This was determined by the regression formula Y (temporomandibular disorder index) = 2.563 + 0.550X1 (oral habit index) + 0.134X2 (egosphere stress index). Thus, bad oral habits and stress in adolescence can be the potential cause of jaw joint disorders in adulthood. We believe that measures are needed to actively recognize and improve oral habits, and properly cope with stress during adolescence.