Assessment of temporomandibular injury and orofacial pain

Every individual has physical faults which makes him less than a perfect biological specimen. This is the foundation for the legal "eggshell principal." Most of us do not have perfect skeletal formation, muscular adaptation, neurological or vascular systems. Additionally, we may not have complete symmetry and ideal form to our cranium or mandible. Our dentitions are imperfect. All of these imperfections play a role in every injury. The variances of normal that are seen in any medical or dental population, must be accepted; therefore, a given injury can have tremendously varied sequelae, depending on the person receiving it. The patho-physiology resultant from an accident may not parallel the severity of the motor vehicle accident, fall or blow. Prompt and proper evaluation of the individual-turned-patient is imperative. Referral to a dentist, competent in providing the necessary evaluation of the injury, is the responsibility of those individuals attending to the injured person's physical, emotional, and financial trauma. Their physician, dentist, attorney or counselor should take the responsibility of providing proper referral. The four most dangerous words in medicine and dentistry today are: "It Will Go Away." People often develop serious sequelae by assuming that their problem will "go away" by just leaving it alone long enough or by simply ignoring it. With proper evaluation and management, most trauma related temporomandibular injuries can be corrected or at least be properly managed.