Temporomandibular Joint Disorders in Older Adults

To review the literature and summarize the evidence of temporomandibualar joint (TMJ) disorders (TMDs) in older adults, focusing on clinical manifestations of TMDs in older adults, highlighting the incidence and sexual dimorphism of TMJ degeneration and the role of sex hormones in this process, and providing potential treatment options for TMD in older adults.

Two review authors performed the literature search, study inclusion, and data extraction. PubMed, Embase, and Google scholar were searched for literature until August 2017 (Figure ). We adopted a combination of Medical Subject Headings with related free text words for the search in PubMed and optimized the search in other search engines.

Traditionally, it was believed that TMDs predominantly affected women of childbearing age, but recent large studies in Europe and the United States have shown that the prevalence of TMD peaks after childbearing age (45-64) and then gradually decreases with age, although not much is known about the disease in older adults.

Most older adults have TMJ degeneration, which affects women more than men. In most older adults, the symptoms of TMD are mild and self-limiting and can usually be treated with self management.