Abstract: TMJ dysfunction-pain has four main sources: intrajoint, muscle spasm, joint/muscle, and referred. Electromyographic evidence has been cited to show that there is a direct cause-and-effect relationship between occlusal deflective contacts and muscle spasm. In some patients emotional stress can be the primary etiologic agent in TMJ dysfunction-pain syndrome, but it works indirectly through the tension-relieving mechanism of bruxism. The controversy over the relative importance of stress and occlusion as a primary etiologic agent remains active. It has been suggested that the reason this conflict has remained unresolved is because the criteria for “malocclusion” is indefinite. The clinical assumption that “when the mandible is in the most retruded position of centric relation, both condyles are in correct alignment in the glenoid fossa” has been challenged. The centric relation of each patient should be individually evaluated by comparing the clinical occlusal findings with the TMJ radiographs. Sometimes the clinical centric relation is not healthy (dysfunctional) and the suspension mechanism of the TMJ is faulty. Condylar displacements are caused by a lack of harmony between the occlusion and the resulting orientation of the mandible. The absence of posterior tooth support can also lead to posterior or superior condylar displacement. The evaluation of occlusal factors in TMJ dysfunction-pain syndrome should not be a mere tabulation of the “hit and slide” but should contain an evaluation of the relative health of the suspension mechanism of centric relation itself. Recent research into the functional parameters of the condylar suspension mechanism indicates that muscles rather than ligaments determine posterior and inferior condylar position. Superior condylar position is influenced by the posterior teeth and meniscus. These observations and experiments have produced a “biophysical” concept of the condylar suspension mechanism. The teeth, muscles, and disc support and guide the condyle in its suspension within the fossa. In adults, alterations in mandibular position will not produce a “corrective remodeling” of the TMJ, and pathologic changes can take place. The TMJ will attempt to physiologically accept condylar displacement; however, in most people, joint and/or muscle dysfunction develops. The level of dysfunction in many patients remains subclinical. The objective of treatment is to correct the occlusion so that the displaced condyles can be repositioned in the middle of the fossa evenly (symmetrically) on both sides. The therapeutic procedure is different in each patient, depending on the type of condylar displacement involved so that a balanced biophysical relationship is established between the teeth, muscles, and TMJ.