Case

A 55 year old patient with rheumatoid arthritis is experiencing severe temporomandibular (TMJ) inflammatory pain.  

Question 1/2 - What nerve could you anesthetize to mitigate this pain?

Click on your selected option(s) below  (correct = 1, over-thinking = 2+)

Correct! The auriculotemporal nerve (branch of trigeminal V3) provides sensation to the region of the TMJ. Injection of a long acting nerve block can be used to numb sensation from this nerve.  

Incorrect. The inferior alveolar nerve (branch of trigeminal V3) courses inferiorly to enter the mandible through the mandibular foramen, emerging from the mandible at the chin from the mental foramen as the mental nerve. Numbing this nerve would anesthetize the lower jaw/teeth (a common intervention for dental work).

Incorrect. The long buccal nerve (branch of trigeminal V3) provides sensation to the cheek (buccal).

Incorrect. While the mandibular fossa is at the posterior aspect of the zygomatic arch, the zygomatic nerve is a branch of the facial (VII) nerve and thus is a motor, not sensory, nerve.