Which functional activities should be assessed in TMD?

• A. Chewing, talking, yawning
• B. Chewing only
• C. Yawning and swallowing
• D. Chewing, yawning, talking

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that a thorough TMD assessment uses functional tasks that stress the jaw in multiple ways to reveal pain, range of motion limits, and muscle coordination issues. Chewing engages complex jaw movements, lateral excursions, and bite force, so it shows how the system handles a real, load-bearing activity. Talking assesses jaw movement during phonation, testing control, endurance, and stability of the mandible in a functional, everyday task. Yawning pushes the mouth to maximal opening, challenging the joint capsule and retrodiscal tissues and helping uncover end-range pain or instability that might not appear with smaller movements. Together, these three activities exam the main directions and demands the jaw encounters daily, providing a comprehensive view of TMJ function. Swallowing, while important in broader orofacial assessment, is less specific to the TMJ's movement patterns and thus is not needed here to define the core functional assessment for TMD.