The objective of this study was to detect soluble-form tumour necrosis factor receptors (sTNFRs) in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) synovial fluid aspirates, and to compare the sTNFR concentrations between painful anterior disc displacement without reduction and osteoarthritis (ADDwoR/OA) and asymptomatic TMJs. Synovial fluid was sampled from the superior TMJ cavity of 11 painful ADDwoR/OA cases (mean age: 36.9 years) and 10 asymptomatic females (mean age: 24.7 years) by diluted aspiration. The concentrations of sTNFR-I and -II in the synovial fluid were measured using human sTNFR-I and -II enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The total protein concentrations in synovial fluids were measured using a bicinchoninic acid protein assay kit. All data were normalised to the total protein concentration of each sample.Two-way factorial analysis of variance and post hoc multiple comparison revealed that: (1). mean normalised sTNFR-I and -II concentrations were higher in TMJ synovial aspirates from ADDwoR/OA patients than from healthy controls; (2). in the ADDwoR/OA patients and the healthy controls, the sTNFR-I concentration in TMJ synovial aspirates was higher than the sTNFR-II concentration; and (3). high TMJ synovial aspirate sTNFR-II seemed to be associated with less TMJ pain and a less restricted range of mouth opening in the ADDwoR/OA patients. The concentrations of sTNFRs in TMJ synovial fluid are higher in the presence of painful ADDwoR/OA, which could modulate intracapsular inflammation.