The aim of our study was to find symptomatic diagnostic factors for sideways displacement of the temporomandibular joint disc, compared with anterior or rotational disc displacement. A consecutive series of 2310 temporomandibular joints were examined with MRI to define the clinical signs and symptoms particularly related to sideways disc displacement compared to anterior disc displacement with logistic regression model. Bone change of the mandibular condyle and age were negatively related factors in differentiating cases with lateral disc displacement from anterior disc displacement without reduction. Range of mouth opening (over 40 mm) was a significant predictor (odds ratio 4.5865 for lateral disc displacement). This study suggested the wide opening of the mouth to become the predictor for the lateral disc displacement among the cases suspected to have disc displacement without reduction.