Oral and Temporomandibular Junction Disorders: An Orthodontic Approach

Abstract

Oral parafunction can be defined as an extra-functional action of certain components of the stomatognathic system. The automation of this kind of occurrence that persists in the form of a reflex arc is a denominated habit. The oral parafunctional habits are described as the action of clenching or grinding teeth (bruxism), among others. This work approached bruxism due to its clinical importance. To evaluate the predisposing factors to the development of oral parafunction, the orthodontist should have updated knowledge of the whole process of the phenomenon of bruxism. The purposes of this chapter were about the comprehension of the neurophysiology of bruxism and also about the capacity of structural adaptation of the components of the stomatognathic system, the analysis of its aetiological factors, as well as its implications on the structures of the masticatory system, and the verification of the relation between bruxism and the orthodontic treatment. In conclusion, the nature of that oral habit is multifactorial, which implies extrafunctional demand of neurophysiological mechanisms, whose effects are installed from the rupture of the structural limit of the adaptive capacity of the stomatognathic system, peculiar to each individual. The performance of orthodontic treatment is not related to the development of bruxism.