Cross-cultural differences in types and beliefs about treatment in women with temporomandibular disorder pain.

Among Saudi, Italian and Swedish women with chronic TMD pain, culture does not influence the type of practitioner consulted before visiting a TMD specialist or their beliefs about contributing and aggravating factors for their pain. However, treatment types and beliefs concerning mechanisms underlying the pain differed cross-culturally, with local availability or larger cultural beliefs also probably influencing the types of treatments that TMD patients pursue.