Treatment of a displaced disk (internal derangement) involves one of two major decisions. Either managing the patient with their disk displacement or TMJ surgery should be considered. This is a common orthopedic approach to joint problems. The majority of patients can be successfully treated with non-surgical modalities, i.e. they can be helped to tolerate a “slipped” disk condition. The following is an example of a treatment plan:

Those patients that do not respond well to non-surgical modes of treatment should be referred for surgical consideration. It is extremely important to treat both the causative factors as well as the consequences of living with the disorder and pain.