Tomas Magnusson

In his doctorial thesis in 1981, with the title Mandibular Dysfunction and Recurrent Headache, Magnusson showed that recurrent headache could be a symptom caused by temporomandibular disorders (TMD). His results have been confirmed in several later studies.
Later, Magnusson´s research focused on longitudinal, epidemiological studies where a population of children and adolescents were followed during 20 years till adulthood. These unique studies, from which the results have been published in 17 scientific papers, showed the natural cause of TMD but they also identified a number of predictors for TMD later in life.
Another research area has been clinical studies aiming at identifying etiological factors of importance for TMD, but also to evaluate the importance/effect of different examination techniques and treatment interventions. The results have been published in more than 30 papers.
Ongoing research projects are e.g. analyses of a contemporary human skull material, in total 259 skulls from adults. The aims of this project are to describe the normal variations of the anatomy of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), but also to analyze the possible importance of different factors for the development of degenerative changes (DC) in the TMJ. Published results show that there is no association between tooth attrition and DC, while increasing age is a strong predictor for DC. Analyses in progress focus on possible correlations between occlusal support and DC, as well as to evaluate if there are racial/genetic differences in respect of DC.
Other ongoing projects includes further epidemiological research, to analyze the decision making process and indications for splint treatment performed by general dental practitioners, and systematic, controlled and randomized studies evaluating treatment efficacy and cost effectiveness of different common TMD treatments.