Temporomandibular Disorders and Traditional Chinese Medicine: Part II – Evidence-Based Analysis on Acupuncture

Background: Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) is a multifactorial condition with high prev-alence that affects the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), masticatory muscles, and associated structures. It is characterised by pain, functional limitation, and joint sounds, representing a sig-nificant burden for both healthcare systems and patients. Although conventional approaches, such as physiotherapy, occlusal splints, and pharmacotherapy, are widely used, they often show limited effectiveness, which has encouraged the search for complementary therapies, including Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).Objectives: The aim of this work is to explore TMD with a focus on the TCM approach, particu-larly evaluating the effectiveness of acupuncture and its variants in the treatment of this condi-tion.Methods: A comprehensive review of the literature was performed.Results: Scientific evidence suggests that acupuncture is effective in reducing pain, improving mandibular function, and decreasing muscle tension in patients with TMD. In several studies, acupuncture showed results superior or equivalent to conventional therapies, such as occlusal splints, physiotherapy, or pharmacotherapy. Specific variants, such as warm-needle acupuncture, laser acupuncture, and acupotomy, demonstrated additional benefits.Conclusions: Overall, the studies reviewed reported a favourable safety profile, reinforcing the safety of the technique. The acupuncture points most used were also analysed.Thus, TCM, particularly acupuncture, represents an effective and safe therapeutic approach for TMD, and may be integrated as a complementary option to conventional treatments. Despite the promising results, methodological limitations of the available studies restrict the generalisation of conclusions, highlighting the need for more robust and well-designed clinical trials to strengthen the existing evidence.