Temporomandibular Disorder: Diagnosis and Medical Treatments
(asked on 10th July 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment pathways for people with temporomandibular joint disorder.
Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD) treatment is considered as planned non-emergency care. The NHS.UK website advises that it is not usually serious and generally gets better without treatment. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/temporomandibular-disorder-tmd/
Treatment options for TMJD are:
- conservative treatments such as pain relief, physiotherapy, bite guards, and self-management advice. These are usually provided through primary care and would be considered as non-urgent but necessary care;
- specialist referral, if conservative treatment does not help, specifically referral to oral maxillofacial surgery or a specialist pain clinic may occur. These referrals are part of the routine National Health Service pathways but are prioritised on clinical need; and
- surgical treatments in severe cases, which are scheduled as planned elective procedures. In NHS terms this falls under elective care, but it is not optional in a cosmetic sense, as it is clinically indicated.
NHS England Getting It Right First Time and the Royal College of Surgeons’ Faculty of Dental Surgery have produced guidance to better manage the condition, which is available at the following link:
No assessment has been made on the adequacy of the training for general practitioners and dentists on recognising and managing TMJD. The standard of training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council and General Dental Council, which are independent statutory bodies.