Postoperative physical therapy in temporomandibular joint arthroplasty

This article offers a revised physical therapy treatment approach for rehabilitating a temporomandibular joint (TMJ) following arthroplastic surgical intervention. Surgical repair is only advised in those chronic cases where refractory symptoms affect the quality of the patient's life and prevent patients from carrying out their normal daily activities. Previous nonsurgical and surgical management usually fails to correct the problem in these types of cases. Rehabilitation guidelines discussed include plication, diskectomy (with or without interpositional implant), costochondral graft, fossa implant, and total joint replacement.