A simple questionnaire and clinical examination to help identify possible non-craniomandibular disorders that may...

A patient with craniomandibular disorder (CMD) symptoms may have CMD, a local or systemic disorder that mimics CMD, or CMD superimposed with a local or systemic disorder that exacerbates the CMD symptoms. When evaluating a patient with CMD symptoms, the practitioner needs to determine whether local or systemic problems contribute to the patient's symptoms. The author presents a simple questionnaire that can help identify some non-CMD problems that may contribute to the patient's symptoms. A discussion of each question and examples of possible non-CMD disorders are provided. The author also describes a clinical examination that may be used in conjunction with the questionnaire to help identify some non-CMD conditions.