The TMJ or Temporomandibular Joint connects the lower jaw, called the mandible, to the bone at the side of the head—the temporal bone. If you place your fingers just in front of your ears and open your mouth, you can feel the joints. Because these joints are flexible, the jaw can move smoothly up and down and side to side, enabling us to talk, chew and yawn. Muscles attached to and surrounding the jaw joint controls its position and movement.

The TMJ is different from the body’s other joints. The combination of hinge and sliding motions makes this joint among the most complicated in the body. Also, the tissues that make up the temporomandibular joint differ from other load-bearing joints, like the knee or hip. Because of its complex movement and unique makeup, the jaw joint and its controlling muscles can pose a tremendous challenge to both patients and health care providers when problems arise. The most common problem is TMJD or Temporomandibular Joint Disorders, which is a group of conditions that cause pain and dysfunction in the jaw joints and the muscles that control jaw movement. According to National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, disorders of the jaw joint and chewing muscles—and how people respond to them—vary widely. Researchers generally agree that the conditions fall into three main categories:

1. Myofascial pain involves discomfort or pain in the muscles that control jaw function.
2. Internal derangement of the joint involves a displaced disc, dislocated jaw, or injury to the condyle.
3. Arthritis refers to a group of degenerative/inflammatory joint disorders that can affect the temporomandibular joint.

Temporomandibular Joint Disorders belongs to a larger group of disorders called Orofacial Pain Disorders. According to American Academy of Orofacial Pain, Orofacial Pain Disorders may have pain and associated symptoms arising from a discrete cause, such as postoperative pain or pain associated with a malignancy, or may be syndromes in which pain constitutes the primary problem, such a TMJ Disorder pain, neuropathic pains or headaches.

Orofacial pain is evolving; the scope of the field is enlarging. At the present time the orofacial pain encompasses:

1. Temporomandibular Joint disorders
2. Masticatory musculoskeletal pain
3. Cervical musculoskeletal pain
4. Neurovascular pain
5. Neuropathic pain
6. Sleep disorders related to orofacial pain
7. Orofacial Dystonias
8. Headaches
9. Intraoral, intracranial, extracranial, and systemic disorders that cause orofacial pain