Objectives The German Society of Craniomandibular Function and Disorders recommends that patients suffering from temporomandibular dysfunctions should practice sports in order to compensate for everyday stress. This raises the question as to what extent competitive athletes develop temporomandibular dysfunctions or whether their athletic activities protect them. With the present literature review, the authors intend to give an overview of the currently available publications on this topic. Materials and methods A literature research in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases was performed to filter out the currently available publications on the topic ‚sports, and temporomandibular dysfunction. Results Out of 114 available articles, seven met the inclusion criteria. Two other relevant articles were found in the list of references, so that in total, nine publications were picked for the review. In case numbers ranging from eight to 347 subjects, a temporomandibular dysfunction was detected with a prevalence between 11.7% and 100% for athletes and between 11.11% and 14.3% for non-athletes. Different kinds of sports were evaluated, all of them contact sports: basketball, handball, wrestling, boxing, karate, mixed martial arts, field hockey, water polo, and soccer. One study compared athletes with and without consumption of anabolic steroids, regardless of the type of sport. The level of athletic performance varied across the different studies. Conclusions Currently, studies dealing with the effect of competitive sports on temporomandibular dysfunction are scarce. Inconsistent methodological procedures permit only limited comparability. Clinical relevance A general trend, however, can already be discerned: professional athletes suffer from temporomandibular dysfunctions more frequently than non-athletes.

Objectives The present study was conducted to investigate the correlation between (competitive) sports and the occurrence of temporomandibular dysfunctions (TMD) by comparing the prevalences in competitive, recreational, and non-athletic women. Materials and methods A total of 138 women between the ages of 18 and 45 were interviewed about symptoms of TMD by means of a questionnaire. Based on their athletic performance level, the participating women were classified as competitive athletes, recreational athletes, or non-athletes (each group n = 46). Results Symptoms of TMD were notably less frequent in competitive female athletes (52.2%) than in recreational female athletes (63.0%) and female non-athletes (60.9%). With increasing training load, the prevalence of TMD decreased in both the competitive and recreational female athlete groups. Conclusions Athletic activity in general seems to have a positive effect on the occurrence of TMD. Competitive female athletes appear less likely to suffer from symptoms of TMD than recreational athletes and non-athletes. One possible explanation for this could be the better supervision by qualified trainers and physiotherapists in competitive sports. Clinical relevance Patients should be motivated to engage in sports as a protective measure against symptoms of TMD. However, it is important to ensure that they are properly instructed by experienced personnel in order to avoid unphysiological strain and negative consequences.