The aim of this article is to provide knowledge and simple, hands-on tools to be used in general dentistry when caring for patients with chronic orofacial musculoskeletal pain and jaw dysfunction. The tools should be used to identify, diagnose and treat patients with these quite common conditions. Conditions (and patients) that are not always simple to deal with in general dentistry. However, there are now simple and very effective tools, supported by the scientific litterature, to assist in taking care of these patients in the best possible way.

The article provides knowledge about chronic pain and its consequences as well as descriptions of tools to screen all patients to identify which patients to examine further. It describes the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) diagnostic procedure for clinical diagnosis and assessment of psychosocial factors related to chronic pain. Finally, it discusses guidelines for treatment of these patients, including a tool for assessing if the patient should be treated within general dentistry or if the patient should be referred to a specialist.

Denna artikel vill förmedla kunskap och enkla verktyg till allmäntandvården som ett stöd för omhändertagande (identifiering, diagnosticering och behandling) av patienter med långvariga muskuloskeletala smärttillstånd i ansikte, käkar, mun och huvud. Tillstånd (och patienter) som inte alltid är så lätta att hantera i allmäntandvården men där det nu finns enkla och effektiva verktyg med stöd i litteraturen för att ta hand om på bästa sätt.