Abstract: Temporomandibular joint degenerative disease is a common disease in the temporomandibular disorders, including osteoarthrosis and osteoarthritis. There were often confused in clinical diagnosis, treatment and basic research both of osteoarthrosis and osteoarthritis. That will affect the choice of clinicians and scientists to the treatment of disease, the judgment of prognosis, and the experimental results. The key to distinguishing the clinical significance of osteoarthrosis and osteoarthritis in temporomandibular degenerative disease lies in how to correctly recognize the main differences between the two, that is, whether there is pain in the temporomandibular joint and the masticatory muscle area. At the same time, it is necessary to judge the course of the disease, whether the two are transforming each other and the clinical significance of other dentistry.