TMJ and TMDS in orthodontics - an unseen factor

Orthodontists are constantly being challenged with the task of providing their patients with acceptable esthetics and masticatory function. Although esthetics is often the patient’s immediate and primary goal, function becomes far more important over the lifetime. So developing a sound, functional masticatory system is the primary goal of all orthodontic therapy. The frequency of TMJ complaints has multiplied in the last few years. This may have been brought about by the increased stresses of our fast paced world, or at least we now recognize that there is a stress strain tension release syndrome that often manifests itself with nocturnal parafunctional activity. Orthodontist, through many accepted treatment procedures may inadvertently exert distal pressure on the mandibular complex, which can be the beginning of a TMJ disorder.