Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) or craniomandibular disorders, respectively, involve diseases of the teeth and periodontia as well as the masticatory muscles, temporomandibular joints and associated structures. It has been shown in recent years that psychological, social and general medical influences are of enormous importance in the etiology of TMD in addition to anatomical, physiological, parafunctional and other biological causes. This signifies that therapists confronted with TMD should already include at an early stage other specialists such as pain therapists, neurologists, ENT physicians, psychotherapists and physiotherapists. Patients need to be referred to dentists specializing in TMD when ENT examinations yield no pathological findings. The treatment of TMD is subdivided into the following steps that are always related to underlying diagnoses: informing patients, self-observation, relaxation therapy, behavioral therapy, physiotherapy, drug therapy, therapeutic local anesthesia, splint therapy, and, if necessary, prosthetic and/or orthodontic therapy to restore a stable occlusion.
