Are craniomandibular disorders a general health problem?

It has been suggested that the high prevalence of clinical signs and subjective symptoms of craniomandibular disorders (CMD) reported in many epidemiological studies mainly lie within the range of normal variation and do not indicate of a real health problem. However, other studies have shown an association between CMD and other disorders such as headache and neck pain. There also appears to be a marked association between sick leave and CMD. Successful occlusal treatment of CMD alleviates or eliminates signs and symptoms not associated with the primary diagnosis of CMD. The argument that CMD do not represent a real health problem is therefore unfounded.