The feasibility of a screening procedure regarding temporomandibular joint dysfunction

A screening examination for the assessment of tempormandibular joint dysfunction was evaluated in a series of 279 patients. Tenderness upon palpation of one or more of the muscles of mastication and/or pain upon retrusion of the mandible was noted in seventy-nine patients (28 per cent). These objective signs of temporomandibular joint dysfunction did not correlate statistically with maximum opening of the mouth, age, taking of analesics or tranquilizers, headache or dizzy spells, crepitus, and the patients dental condition.