Health Topic

Temporomandibular Disorders

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) affect the joints that connect your lower jaw to your skull. TMDs can cause jaw pain and stiffness. Learn about treatments.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Also called: TMD · TMJ disorders · Temporomandibular joint dysfunction

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Temporomandibular Disorders

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are a group of more than 30 conditions that affect your temporomandibular joints (TMJs). You have two TMJs; one on each side of your jaw. They connect your lower jaw to your skull.

TMDs can cause problems in your jaw joint and your muscles that control jaw movement. These problems can include pain, stiffness, and trouble chewing.

There are three main types of TMDs:

  • Disorders of your jaw joints
  • Disorders of the muscles you use for chewing
  • Headaches from a TMD

Many TMDs last only a short time and go away on their own. However, in some cases they can become chronic (long lasting)

Sometimes an injury to the jaw or TMJ can cause a TMD. But in most cases, the cause is not known.

Research suggests that certain factors may play a role in why a TMD starts and whether it will be long lasting:

  • Genetics
  • Psychological and life stressors
  • How someone perceives pain

Anyone can develop a TMD, but it is more common in women than in men. It is most common in women between 35 and 44 years old.

The symptoms of TMDs may include:

  • Pain in the chewing muscles and/or jaw joint. This is the most common symptom.
  • Pain that spreads to the face or neck.
  • Jaw stiffness.
  • Limited movement or locking of the jaw.
  • Painful clicking or popping in your jaw joint when you open or close your mouth. However, clicking or popping without pain is common and is not a sign of a TMD.
  • Tinnitus (ringing in the ears), hearing loss, or dizziness.
  • A change in the way the upper and lower teeth fit together.

There is no standard test used to diagnose TMDs, and some other conditions can cause some similar symptoms. This can make TMDs hard to diagnose.

To find out if you have a TMD, your health care provider or dentist:

  • Will take a detailed medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms. They will want to know: Where the pain is
  • When you have it
  • What makes it better or worse
  • If it stays in one area or spreads to other parts of your body
  • If you have any other pain conditions such as headache or back pain
  • Tenderness
  • Jaw clicking or popping
  • Problems moving your jaw

For many people, the symptoms of TMD are temporary. To help you feel better, your provider or dentist may suggest that you:

  • Eat soft foods.
  • Apply heat or cold to the face and do some exercises to gently stretch and strengthen your jaw muscles.
  • Take over-the-counter pain relievers, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen.
  • Stop clenching your jaw, chewing gum, and biting your nails.

If those do not help, your provider or dentist may suggest other treatments such as:

  • Physical therapy
  • Self-management and behavioral health approaches, which can include: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a type of psychotherapy. It can help you identify negative thoughts and change them. It can also teach you coping skills.
  • Biofeedback, which involves using electronic devices to teach you to control certain body functions, such as your heartbeat, blood pressure, and muscle tension. For example, it can detect when you tighten your jaw muscles. You can learn how to recognize when this happens and then relax your muscles.
  • Anti-anxiety medicines
  • Antidepressants
  • Anti-seizure medicines
  • Prescription pain relievers
  • Know that there is not a lot of evidence that they improve TMD pain.
  • Make sure that the appliance you have is not designed to permanently change your bite.
  • Let your provider or dentist know if it makes your pain worse.

If you are still having severe symptoms from a TMD, your provider or dentist may suggest surgery, including implant surgery, or another procedure.

It's important to be careful, because sometimes surgery or another procedure may not work or may even make your symptoms worse. Before any surgery or other procedure, it is very important to get opinions from more than one provider and to completely understand the risks. If possible, get an opinion from a surgeon who specializes in treating TMDs.

It sits within Mouth and Teeth.

The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Temporomandibular Disorders

718 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

Start Here

Diagnosis and Tests

Treatments and Therapies

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Temporomandibular Joint Disorders. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Temporomandibular Disorders, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.