Our TMJ Fee (click)
A dentist who diagnoses and treats TMJ problems on a regular basis will often refer to themselves as a TMJ Specialist. Technically however, there is not a TMJ specialty in the field of dentistry. The official specialties that are recognized in the dental field include: Dental Public Health, Endodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (Oral Surgery), Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Pediatric Dentistry or Pedodontics, Periodontics, Prosthodontics.
An important point to make is that a specialty that a dentist has (orthodontist, oral surgeon, etc.) does not at all make them someone with a high level TMJ knowledge and skill ( "TMJ Specialist"). It all comes down to the individual practitioner, specialist or not, and how much they have devoted to the study of the TMJs (jaw joints) and their clinical experience.
Many non-dental therapists perform therapy to treat TMJ but if the TMJ problem is caused by an unbalanced bite, they will have limited success. The cause of the problem will still remain and symptoms will return after a period of short term relief.
More advanced TMJ problems often require joint surgery by an oral surgeon as well as bite balancing procedures by the restorative dentist (general dentist or prosthodontist). Sometimes an orthodontist is involved as well. Too many times each one of these dentist "do their own thing" resulting in uncoordinated treatment with less than ideal results for the patient.