[Craniomandibular disorder/dysfunction. Characteristics and disorders of the masticatory organ]

The practising physician often meets patients with pain located in different parts of the face and facial skull, mouth opening restriction or other motion disorder of the mandible. It is not always easy to identify and explain the cause. It is not widely known among doctors that most of these problems are due to masticatory dysfunction. There is a special group of patients showing functional disorders and there are some others who present a variety of different symptoms and visit several doctors. The masticatory organ, a functional unit of the human organism has a definite and separate task and function. In the early years of life it is capable of adaptation, while later on it tends to compensation. The authors outline the functional anatomy of the masticatory organ and the characteristics of multicausal pathology, the dynamics of the process of the disease and their interdisciplinary aspects. They discuss the basic elements of craniomandibular dysfunction. Based on the diagnostic algorithm, they summarize treatment options for masticatory function disorders. They emphasize the importance that physicians should offer treatment, especially an irreversible treatment, without a diagnosis. It occurs very often that the causes are identified after the patients become symptom-free due to treatment. The aim of this report is to help the general practitioners, dentists, neurologists, ear-nose-throat specialists, rheumatologists or any other specialists in the everyday practice who have patients with different symptoms such as pain in the skull, acoustic phenomenon of the joint or craniomandibular dysfunction.