Tenderness on palpation and occlusal abnormalities in temporomandibular dysfunction.

Tenderness on palpation indicates objective painful symptoms. This study investigated the tenderness of the temporomandibular joint, muscles and their relation to occlusion in patients with temporomandibular dysfunction. Two hundred ten patients were examined; 96% had tenderness and 80% of cases of tenderness were diagnosed as occlusally related. The average number of tender areas was 5.4 per patient, despite the contribution of occlusion. Tenderness was observed most frequently in the lateral pterygoid muscle, followed by the insertion of temporal muscle. There was no correlation of temporomandibular joint tenderness to muscle tenderness, while tenderness of certain muscles to each other was correlated. Differences were related to the state of occlusion in the number of tender areas, to the ratio to tenderness of elevator muscles to horizontally acting muscles, and to the frequency of unilateral tenderness. The association of muscle tenderness and occlusion was suggested.