The Council fo the European Academy of Craniomandibular Disorders charged the Educational Committee with the task of establishing Guidelines and Recommendations for the examination, diagnosis, and management of patients with temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain by the general dental practitioner. It was not their purpose to present a thorough and critical review of the vast amount of literature avaliable but to summarize the at-present generally accepted clinical approach. These recommendations are based as much as possible on scientific evidence and on sound clinical judgement in cases where only partial evidence or contradictory data were found.