Myofascial Temporomandibular Disorders at a Turning Point: Pragmatic or Evidence-Based Management?

Unvalidated theories have been proposed for the etiopathogenesis of masticatory myofascial temporomandibular disorders (mTMD). Modalities such as cone-beam computed tomography/computed tomography and MRI contributes little to the diagnosis of mTMD. Diagnosing mTMD is based on the recognition of "familiar pain" presentation in the masticatory myofascial tissue. This assessment tool contributes little our understanding of the underlying disease process. Thus, management of mTMD is empirical and arbitrary. Exploring emerging technologies to identify biomarkers and objectively assess myofascial tissue physiology in disease and health may be key in moving the diagnosis of mTMD from the pragmatic paradigm to an evidence-based paradigm.