Temporomandibular joint clicking noises caused by a multilocular bone cyst: a case report

When diagnosing patients with temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptoms, the possibility of unusual causes must be considered, including neoplastic disorders, as well as infections and inflammatory disease. Therefore, radiologic examination may prove to be invaluable in the differential diagnosis of TMDs. This article describes a patient whose temporomandibular joint (TMJ) noise was initially diagnosed by another dental clinic as a TMJ anterior disc displacement with reciprocal clicking. Occlusal splint therapy was used for nearly three to four months but did not improve the TMJ noise condition. When the patient was examined clinically and imaged with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), a multilocular bone cyst (MBC) was suspected. The cyst could cause surface irregularities in the posterior part of the left eminence of the temporal bone, which could be the source of the clicking noise.