[Course of action in front of children or adolescent suffering from temporomandibular disorders].

Temporomandibular disorders are described in children from the age of 4. Their prevalence and severity increase strongly during the second decade, which corresponds to the period of orthodontic treatments. At this age the most common symptoms are joint clicking sounds (more than 70% of the cases), sometimes accompanied by episodes of intermittent locking. They would be favored by oral parafunctional activities (gum chewing, biting habits, bruxism...), ligamentous hyperlaxity and modification of the intra-articular space relations during growth. The questioning of the patient and his parents and clinical examination (muscular, articular and occlusal) are essential and very often sufficient for establishing the diagnosis. Even more than in the adult, the therapeutic attitude must rely on conservative and non-irreversible methods (explanations, suppression of the parafunctions, occlusal splints in the case of severe bruxism). These considerations are illustrated by the presentation of two representative clinical cases of temporomandibular disorders frequently encountered in children and adolescents.