Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Dec 30;12(1):298.
doi: 10.3390/jcm12010298.

The Emergencies in the Group of Patients with Temporomandibular Disorders

Malgorzata Pihut  1 , Malgorzata Kulesa-Mrowiecka  2
Affiliations
Review

The Emergencies in the Group of Patients with Temporomandibular Disorders

Malgorzata Pihut et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Temporomandibular disorder is a musculoskeletal disease with complex, multifactorial etiology regarding improper functioning of the stomatognathic system (masticatory muscles, temporomandibular joints, and surrounding structures). This article presents medical emergencies occurring among patients treated for temporomandibular disorders, which tend to constitute a severe difficulty for practitioners during their clinical practice. Examples of the most common emergencies of this type are disc displacement without reduction and a sudden contraction of the inferior part of the lateral pterygoid muscle. The latter occurs in cases of uncontrolled and incorrect use of the anterior repositioning splints and the hypertrophy of the coronoid process of the mandible. The sudden attacks of pain of secondary trigeminal neuralgia are also discussed in this article, together with their specific nature, which is significantly different from the nature of the pain of primary trigeminal neuralgia, yet the two types of neuralgia can be easily confused when the primary one takes the painful form. Subsequent emergencies discussed are myofascial pain syndrome, traumatic and inflammatory states of the temporomandibular joints, subluxation, and the consequences of intense occlusive parafunctions. Finally, the recommended therapeutic methods, which are used as part of the treatment in the cases of aforementioned emergencies, are described in this mini-review article, emphasizing that the implementation of the incorrect treatment and rehabilitation for emergencies of temporomandibular disorders may lead to permanent damage to the soft tissue structures of the temporomandibular joints.

Keywords: TMD; differential diagnosis; emergencies; management of TMD; myospasm of pterygoid muscle; rehabilitation; subluxation of mandible; temporomandibular disorders.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Temporary anterior repositioning appliance made of impression material.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Tender points of the muscles in fibromyalgia [12].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pathological hypertrophy of the coronoid process of the mandible.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Parotid abscess can cause the inflammation of the joints by continuity from surrounding tissues.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Wright E., Klasser G. Management of Temporomandibular Disorders. 4th ed. Wiley—Blackwell; Hoboken, NJ, USA: 2019.
    1. Liu F., Steinkeler A. Epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of temporomandibular disorders. Dent. Clin. N. Am. 2013;57:465–479. doi: 10.1016/j.cden.2013.04.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fale H., Hnamte L., Deolia S., Pasad S., Kohale S., Sen S. Association between parafunctional habit and sign and symptoms of temporomandibular dysfunction. J. Dent. Res. Rev. 2018;5:17. doi: 10.4103/jdrr.jdrr_1_18. - DOI
    1. Poluha R.L., Canales G.D.L.T., Costa Y.M., Grossmann E., Bonjardim L.R., Conti P.C.R. Temporomandibular joint disc displacement with reduction: A review of mechanisms and clinical presentation. J. Appl. Oral Sci. 2019;27:e20180433. doi: 10.1590/1678-7757-2018-0433. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-Baghdadi M., Durham J., Araujo-Soares V., Robalino S., Errington L., Steele J. TMJ disc displacement without reduction management: A systematic review. J. Dent. Res. 2014;93((Suppl. S7)):37S–51S. doi: 10.1177/0022034514528333. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources