Dr. Esra Somtürk

CURRENT APPROACHES TO THE DIATNOSIS AND DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT DYSFUNCTION

Many studies show that majority of people in a society experience burixism and teeth clenching problems even though they are not aware. Since patients usually are not aware of this problem and do not complain until symptoms are manifested, early diagnosis is highly important.Particularly in patients with bruixism that is not detected early, temporomandibular joint dysfunction or myofacial pain develops, which makes treatment difficult.

At this stage, dentist play a very important role for diagnosis and differential diagnosis.
The main principle in medicine and dentistry is ‘to detect clinical symptoms that patients are not aware and reduce or eliminate problems that may occur later’.
In this presentation; diagnosis, differential diagnosis and treatment approaches for patients with temporomandibular joint dysfunction and myofacial pain will be discussed.