[Understanding and treatment strategy for disc displacement of temporomandibular disorders]

Understanding and treatment strategy for disc displacement of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) were discussed in the present review. It has been strongly recommended by the author that the treatment strategy for disc displacement, one subtype of TMD, should be mainly the reversible conservative treatment methods. The most important goal of treatment for disc displacement is to recover the mobility and function of the joint in order to improve the quality of the patient's life. Comprehensive assessments both from somatic and psychological aspects for each TMD patient are necessary, especially for the patients with chronic pain. Although the role of surgical operative treatments is very limited in the general treatment strategy for TMD, it is still important for a few patients who had definite diagnosis of intra-articular disorders, severe symptoms affecting the quality of patient's life and failed to response to the correct conservative treatments. It should be very careful to treat the TMD patients by surgical operation or irreversible occlusion treatments changing the natural denture of the patient, such as full mouth occlusional reconstruction and extensive adjustment of occlusion.