The American Dental Association's President's Conference on Temporomandibular Disorders defined TMD as a group of orofacial disorders characterized by:

1. •Pain in the preauricular area, TMJ, or muscles of mastication
   

2. •Limitations/deviations in mandibular range of motion
   

3. •TMJ sounds during jaw function

TMD is Not One Disease

TMD refers to symptoms. Many different diseases will cause pain and dysfunction in and around the temporomandibular joint. See the partial list of diseases that will cause TMD symptoms below.

70% of the US population has a TMD/ Only half have TMJ damage

70% US population has a TMD

35 % US population has a damaged joint

So only half of those with a TMD have actual joint damage

In diagnosing patients who have TMD symptoms,

one of the first things to be determined is:

1. 1.Is the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) damaged?
   

2. 2.If damaged, what is damaged?
   

3. 3.Does the joint damage have anything to do with the pain or dysfunction?

70% of damaged TMJs adapt favorably without treatment

If a patient with a newly injured TMJ has no treatment, 70% will adapt favorably.

Even 30 years later, the majority do fine without any treatment.

However 30% do not adapt favorably. 25% could not eat hard foods.

The big question is:

Are you in the 70% or the 30%?

Being told you have TMJ is the same as being told you have knee or you have elbow. TMJ is the abbreviation for the temporomandibular joint, it is not a diagnosis. There are over 100 causes of facial pain, only some of which are caused by a damaged joint.

Leeuw, Boering, Stegenga, Bont

Journal of Craniomandibular Practice, April 1995, vol. 13, No.2

Bone loss in Right TMJ of a 25 year old female

The TMJ is a synovial joint of the human body and will undergo the same diseases as any other joint. I use an orthopedic approach to diagnosing and treating damaged TMJs.