Agenda
Painful or non-painful TMDs are musculoskeletal problems in the face. Unfortunately, TMD classifications and diagnostic procedures are often unnecessarily extensive and complicated. In particular, they do not distinguish between clinically relevant findings and fluctuations in normality, which leads to overdiagnosis and possibly overtreatment. This course proposes a diagnostic strategy based on four pillars:
1. limitation to valid diagnostic (clinical and radiological) measures;
2. limitation to three jaw-related somatic diagnoses (axis I);
3. differentiation between local, regional and widespread pain distribution;
4. consideration of accompanying psychosocial findings (axis II)
The management of TMD-related pain is similar to the management of musculoskeletal pain located in other parts of the body. By relying strictly on therapies with proven efficacy, individual selection of thereutic modalities is influenced by the characteristics of the case, the experience of the clinician and the preference of the informed patient.
