Comparing the Effectiveness of Online vs. Face-to-face Physiotherapy for Treating Temporomandibular Disorders

March 11, 2026 updated by: Kovácsné Dr. Körmendi Katalin, Semmelweis University

Comparing the Effectiveness of Online vs. One-on-one vs. Group Physiotherapy for Treating Myogenic Temporomandibular Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Dentists and physiotherapists have two options for treating these conditions: splint therapy and physiotherapy. Right now, the gold standard is individual physiotherapy, which contains manual therapy and active exercises too. Since not many dentists and physiotherapists are experts in this area, patients have to wait for months or even years to get their treatment. Thanks to social media, patients can find many information about their condition while they are waiting, but it's our responsibility to provide safe and effective information. In view of this situation, our aim is to find out if online or group physiotherapy is as effective as individual physiotherapy.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

90

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Hungary
      • Budapest, Hungary, 1088
        • Recruiting
        • Department of Prosthodontics, Semmelweis University
        • Contact:
    • Pest County
      • Budapest, Pest County, Hungary, 1106

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with myalgia

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children, patients with systemic rheumatic diseases (RA, SLE..), previous jaw surgery or trauma

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Online physiotherapy
These group of patients will get a well-detailed video about the exercises for treatment of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). This video will be available during the whole 4-week treatment period.
Procedure: Individual physiotherapy
Been included in "arm descriptions"
Procedure: Group physiotherapy
Been included in "arm descriptions"
Experimental: Group physiotherapy
This study group will have a 30-minute face-to-face physiotherapy appointment in small groups (5 person in one group). The physiotherapist will teach them how to perform the exercises correctly. At the end of the appointment, they will get a description about the exercises for the treatment of TMDs. They will practice the exercises at home for 4 weeks.
Procedure: Individual physiotherapy
Been included in "arm descriptions"
Procedure: Online physiotherapy
Been included in "arm descriptions"
Active Comparator: Individual physiotherapy
This study group will have a 30-minute face-to-face physiotherapy appointment individually. The physiotherapist will teach them how to perform the exercises correctly. At the end of the appointment, they will get a description about the exercises for the treatment of TMDs. They will practice the exercises at home for 4 weeks.
Procedure: Group physiotherapy
Been included in "arm descriptions"
Procedure: Online physiotherapy
Been included in "arm descriptions"

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain measured at Visual Analogue Scale
Time Frame: Before physiotherapy and one month after physiotherapy
We will examine the level of pain experienced by patients at rest and when opening their mouths before and after the procedure.
Before physiotherapy and one month after physiotherapy

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
RDC/TMD results
Time Frame: 1 month
Dentists reassess patients after 1 month using the RDC/TMD
1 month

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Semmelweis University

Collaborators

Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

  • Basch CH, Yin J, Walker ND, de Leon AJ, Funk ICH. TMJ online: Investigating temporomandibular disorders as "TMJ" on YouTube. J Oral Rehab. 2018;45(1):34- 41.
  • van der Meer H, de Pijper L, van Bruxvoort, Visscher CM, Nijhuis-van der Sander MW, Engelbert RHH. Using e-health in the physical therapeutic care process for patients with temporomandibular disorders: a qualitative study on the perspective of physical therapists and patients. Disabil Rehabil. 2022;44(4):617-624.
  • Anastassaki Köhler A, Hugoson A, Magnusson T. Prevalence of symptoms indicative of temporomandibular disorders in adults: Cross-sectional epidemiological investigations covering two decades. Acta Odontol Scand. 2012;70(3):213-223.
  • Maixner W, Fillingim RB, Williams DA, Smith SB, Slade GD. Overlapping Chronic Pain Conditions: Implications for Diagnosis and Classification. J Pain. 2016;17(9): T93-T107.
  • Lung J, Bell L, Heslop M, Cuming S, Ariyawardana A. Prevalence of temporomandibular disorders among a cohort of university undergraduates in Australia. J Investig Clin Dent 2018; 9(3), e:12341.
  • Jivnani H, Tripathi S, Shanker R, Singh B, Agrawal K, Singhal R. A Study to Determine the Prevalence of Temporomandibular Disorders in a Young Adult Population and its Association with Psychological and Functional Occlusal Parameters. J Prosthod 2019; 28(1): E445-e449.
  • Egészségügyi szakmai irányelv - A temporomandibuláris fájdalom és diszfunkció diagnosztikájáról és terápiájáról 2020

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

March 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 31, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 11, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 11, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 16, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 11, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 376/2025

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Orofacial Pain

Clinical Trials on Individual physiotherapy

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Guinea

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe