Widespread pain in temporomandibular disorders

Chronic widespread pain (CWP) represents pain involving several regions of the body. Various psychological and social risk factors such as poor general health status, sleep disturbance, fatigue and high psychological distress have been identified for the development of CWP. Numerous chronic pain conditions are comorbid, resulting in the development of CWP in many of these patients. Temporomandibular disorder is one of the most extensively studied chronic musculoskeletal pain condition in terms of its comorbidity with CWP and fibromyalgia. It has been proposed that these comorbid pain disorders share common denominators, including exposure to certain environmental events, elevated psychological distress, pain amplification and genetic predisposition. Increased awareness of CWP is important for improved diagnoses and more effective pain management. Patients with CWP can be effectively managed in multidisciplinary pain clinics.