Temporomandibular pain dysfunction syndrome (TMPDS) comprises a variety of signs and symptoms which may be present in any combination, dependent upon the progress and stage of the disorder. The diagnostic criteria are pain on palpation of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), muscle tenderness on examination, joint sounds, and limitation or deviation of jaw movement on opening. Headache may also be a symptom. Physiotherapy is commonly used to treat this disorder but there is little published material in the field of clinical trials comparing different methods of physiotherapy. Most reports are anecdotal. This paper reports four different physiotherapy modalities in the management of TMPDS when compared with a placebo group. Short-wave diathermy, megapulse, ultrasound and soft laser were tested. There was no statistically significant different in success rate between any of the four methods but each was significantly better than placebo treatment.

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