QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE ROLE OF ORAL QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE ROLE OF ORAL HABITS IN TEMPOROMANDIBULAR PAIN

The pains in the temporomandibular region affect 6 to 30 % of the adults and their pathophysiology still remains very little understood. In the absence of nociceptive somatic pathology, the orofacial activities or habits are often identified as being the cause of these pains. This is the case for bruxism of the squeezing type during the awakening or squeaking during the sleep, onycophagy and many other forms of oromandibular manias.
However, it is not evident to establish if these activities/habits occur by pure coincidence or if they are really the cause of the temporomandibular pains (cause to effect). If one recovers from it in the data coming from the literature, they lead us to raise more questions than to arouse answers. We offer the clinician a critical questioning on the role of the orofacial activities/habits in the genesis of the temporomandibular pains to stimulate clinical research and encourage decision-making based on factual evidence.