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Objective: to assess the characteristics associated with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and their impact on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of institutionalized elderly people. Subjects and method: it was a cross-sectional study performed in 30 private institutions for the elderly. The data collected included the TMD questionnaire and clinical evaluation assessed by the Research Diagnostic Criteria/Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD), as well as the OHIP-49 questionnaire for OHRQoL. Results: twenty-four institutions accepted to participate in the study (n = 375 with 133 fit for answering both questionnaires). Considering the characteristics, tinnitus was the most frequent symptom reported, while 98.5% of the research participants did not present myofascial pain. Disc displacement was observed in 26.3%, while 93% of individuals did not present chronic pain. Severe depression was found in 23.3% of the elderly with 24.1% presenting moderate levels of non-specific physical symptoms, including pain. Poisson regression analysis showed that the characteristics reported were associated with a negative impact on OHRQoL. Conclusion: the domain-specific analysis showed that all domains were affected negatively by TMD characteristics and higher levels of depression are associated with a negative impact on OHRQoL.