An older name for the condition is “Costen’s syndrome,” after James B. Costen, who partially characterized it in 1934. Signs and symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorder vary in their presentation and can be very complex. Usually symptoms will involve more than one of the numerous TMJ components: muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, bones, connective tissue, and the teeth. Ear pain associated with the swelling of proximal tissue is a symptom of temporomandibular joint disorder as well.
In between this joint is a condyle and disk. The dysfunction involved is most often between the condyle of the mandible and the disc, which connects to the upper jaw (maxilla).The sounds produced by this dysfunction are usually described as a “click” or a “pop” when a single sound is heard and as “crepitation” or “crepitus” when there are multiple, rough sounds.