Jaw Range of Motion in People with Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

Problem- People with temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) experience pain in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) or in muscles controlling jaw movement. Purpose- The purpose of this project was to determine whether people with TMD have different ranges of motion for their jaw while chewing. Methods- There were nine subjects in this project, three with TMD and six who did not have TMD as a control group. Of those with TMD, two were female and one was male. Of the control group, there were two females and four males. Subject jaw movements were tracked using a motion analysis system and eight reflective markers placed on the subject’s face. Subjects then did maximal jaw extension, protrusion, retraction, and right and left lateralization movements. Next, subjects ate an apple, gum, and dry cereal on one side of the mouth and then repeated on the other side. We were then able to analyze the data using MatLab. Results- The TMD group demonstrated a larger range of motion in jaw movements other than jaw extension. Conclusions- This projected demonstrated that jaw range of motion may be affected by TMD. Further study may indicate why, possibly due to the TMJ being unstable or dysfunction of facial muscles