Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) Practice Exam

Axis II focuses on how pain from TMD affects daily function and the person’s psychosocial well-being, using patient-reported outcomes rather than imaging or physical joint tests. The Graded Chronic Pain Scale (GCPS) is the main tool for measuring pain severity and the level of pain-related disability, providing a standardized way to quantify how pain interferes with activities. Mood measures assess emotional distress such as anxiety and depression, which often accompany chronic pain and can influence both pain perception and disability. Together, GCPS and mood measures capture the pain-related disability and psychosocial impact that Axis II aims to characterize. Imaging findings and objective joint tests belong to Axis I, which focuses on the structural and functional assessment of the TMJ rather than disability or mood.