Is surgery the only option for this disorder?

No. The non-surgical treatment of temporomandibular disorders continues to be the most effective way of managing over 90 per cent of patients. The most common form of treatment provided by dentists for temporomandibular disorders is occlusal splint therapy.

Surgery can be used to treat a TMJ disorder only if conservative treatments such as oral splints or mouthguard cannot help to reduce the severity of the symptoms. For some people, surgery may be necessary to restore full use of their TMJ.