Although craniomaxillofacial (CMF) trauma is a factor recognized as contributing to the development of temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJD), large population-based research on CMF trauma and subsequent TMJD is lacking. Additionally, it is unknown how previous CMF trauma affects work disability reimbursements for patients with TMJD (pwTMJD). This Swedish registry-based study included 33,315 pwTMJD matched to 333,122 individuals from the general population. Both a case-control design and a cohort design were used in this study to evaluate the association between CMF trauma and TMJD, and to investigate how CMF trauma impacts the number of days on work disability among pwTMJD. The main study finding was that many types of previous CMF trauma were strongly associated with TMJD, with mandibular fractures having the strongest association (adjusted odds ratio 11.4). Furthermore, the strongest association for an increased number of annual days on work disability was found for pwTMJD with a history of CMF trauma. These results suggest that CMF trauma influences the developmental path of TMJD, even in a population-based sample.