Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ)

Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) is a common disorder, with approximately 70 percent of adults having at least one symptom of the disorder, but only 24 percent of them reporting problems (Walling 1841). Epidemiologic studies show that as many as 60 percent to 65 percent of the U. S. Population have some degree of dental malocclusion, a common cause of TMJ (Moses, 290). The condition is more common in women than in men ("Temporomandibular" 1942). People who clench their teeth or grind them when stressed or sleeping, people who chew gum, and those with poor posture are more likely to develop TMJ.

The temporomandibular joints are located in front of the ears, and are the joints attaching the lower jaw (the mandible) to the head (Moses 278). The TMJ is a joint which can slide and rotate, allowing the lower jaw to open and close, to move from side to side, and to move forward and backward, and perform these movements in combination. It is composed of bones, ligaments, tendons, muscle, cartilage, nerves, and blood vessels, so is a very complex joint (Moses 280).

Symptoms of TMJ disorder include pain in the jaw joint, which is worsened when the jaw is

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