Musculoskeletal etiology and therapy of craniomandibular pain and dysfunction.

A number of diverse symptoms, conventionally diagnosed and treated as individual problems, exist in combination in the craniomandibular pain and dysfunction patient. This chapter explores musculoskeletal dysfunction of the area as a common etiologic factor for head and neck pain. The electronically derived data, reported in 68 case histories, indicate that a common measurable etiology is responsible for the many ostensibly diverse manifestations of craniomandibular pain and dysfunction. Both quantitative and subjective data support the etiologic validity of the diagnosis. The basis for the effectiveness of the reported therapy rests on diagnosis of a skeletal malrelation of the mandible to the cranium that poses sustained accommodative demand on the neuromusculature.