Can poor nutrition and diet influence temporomandibular disorder? A systematic review

The relationship between diet, nutrition, and painful temporomandibular disorders (TMD) is not well established, despite increasing interest in lifestyle factors in chronic pain. This systematic review aimed to synthesize available evidence on how dietary patterns and nutritional status may be associated with painful TMD.

An electronic search was conducted in the databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and Web of Science for clinical and observational trials from the beginning of each database to November 2025. Risk of bias was performed using the Study Quality Assessment Tools from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Out of 7,760 records and after the risk of bias assessment, only seven studies judged as having a low risk of bias were included. Overall, the included studies indicate that the association between dietary factors and TMD remains unclear. Prospective cohort studies did not demonstrate that prenatal or adolescent diet quality independently predicted TMD. Cross-sectional studies suggested that specific dietary patterns may be related to TMD-related symptoms. Women with myogenous TMD showed lower intake of several nutrients compared with controls. Experimental evidence indicated that monosodium glutamate ingestion increased pain intensity in myofascial TMD, while the only randomized trial found no significant pain differences between vitamin D supplementation and diclofenac.

Current evidence suggests that some dietary components and nutritional factors may be associated with TMD-related symptoms or pain responses; however, the findings are limited, heterogeneous, and insufficient to support firm causal or therapeutic conclusions.