RESEARCH (1) ANALYZED SPECIFIC OUTCOMES OF COUNSELING, INSTRUCTION, AND DENTAL THERAPY, AND (2) DETERMINED THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF PATIENT EDUCATION FOR RELIEF OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT (TMJ) DYSFUNCTION. SIXTY ADULT PATIENTS ATTENDING THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS TMJ RESEARCH CENTER WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO ONE OF THREE PROGRAMS--DENTISTRY, DENTISTRY AND INSTRUCTION, OR DENTISTRY AND COUNSELING. IN THE PRETEST STAGE, A DENTAL EXAMINATION DETERMINED THE SEVERITY OF THE DYSFUNCTION, AND INTERVIEWS AND TESTING DETERMINED MOTIVATION FOR COUNSELING, EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, KNOWLEDGE OF THE DYSFUNCTION, AND SELF-CONCEPT. RESULTS INDICATED THAT--(1) DENTAL TREATMENT COMBINED WITH INSTRUCTION OR COUNSELING IS SUPERIOR TO DENTAL TREATMENT, (2) DENTAL TREATMENT AND INSTRUCTION ARE SUPERIOR TO DENTAL TREATMENT ALONE OR COMBINED WITH COUNSELING, AND (3) THE COMBINATION OF COUNSELING AND DENTAL TREATMENT IS SUPERIOR TO EITHER DENTISTRY ALONE OR COMBINED WITH INSTRUCTION IN DECREASING A PATIENT'S NEGATIVE FEELINGS ABOUT HIMSELF. AN ABSTRACT OF A DOCTORAL THESIS, THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT A NATIONAL SEMINAR ON ADULT EDUCATION RESEARCH (CHICAGO, FEBRUARY 11-13, 1968). (PT)