Differential diagnosis of temporomandibular disorders and other orofacial pain disorders

The focus of this article is on the differential diagnosis of pain disorders that typically fall outside the realm of dental diseases. There are a great variety of such conditionstoo many to review here. Therefore, this article discusses the differential diagnosis of a few of the more common orofacial pain conditions the dentist may face in a practice. These conditions are divided into two sections: temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and other common orofacial pain disorders. The first section reviews common TMD that are the responsibility of the dentist to identify and manage. The second section reviews some common orofacial pain disorders that the dentist needs to recognize but for which the dentist may not be the primary care provider. TMD TMD is a collective term that includes a number of clinical complaints involving the muscles of mastication, the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), or associated orofacial structures. 1 TMD are a major cause of nondental pain in the orofacial region and are considered a subclassification of musculoskeletal disorders. In many TMD patients the most common complaint originates from the muscles of mastication rather than from the TMJ. Therefore, the terms TMJ dysfunction or TMJ disorder are inappropriate for many complaints arising from the masticatory structures. It i