A new 2026 study in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery gives dentists and GPs another reason to ask about sleep: patients with a confirmed TMD diagnosis showed a substantially elevated risk of also having obstructive sleep apnoea, compared with those without TMD.
The authors' practical recommendation is one many of us can act on immediately — build a routine OSA screen, such as STOP-Bang, into standard TMD assessment, rather than treating the jaw and the airway as separate referral pathways.
This tracks with what we're seeing clinically: jaw pain, joint noise and bruxism often arrive in the same patient as unrefreshing sleep or a partner-reported snoring history. Picking that up early — before a jaw-only treatment plan is set — can change the referral and, potentially, the outcome. Outcomes vary between patients, and any change to a referral pathway follows individual clinical assessment.
We work alongside referring dentists and sleep physicians where a patient's picture isn't purely dental. Happy to discuss a case, or a short CPD session on the overlap, if useful to your practice.
Reference: Moradi A et al., J Oral Maxillofac Surg, 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joms.2026.02.022
- Moradi A et al., J Oral Maxillofac Surg, 2026