TMJ Treatment

An estimated 10 million Americans suffer from TMD. Caused by strenuous physical activities, stressful situations, overuse of the muscles, and grinding of the teeth, temporomandibular disorder (TMD) results in discomfort for people with this disorder This condition occurs because of dysfunction with the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), the joint that makes it possible to chew. This joint allows your jaw to open and close, and allows jaw movement forward, backward, and sideways. The TMJ only works properly if the lower jaw and its movements are synchronized.

What is TMD?
TMD affects jaw muscles, the temporomandibular joint, and nerves where movements become out of synch, which can lead to headache or neck pain. It can also result in sensitive teeth, injured soft tissues, muscle soreness, and jaw discomfort. Other symptoms include ringing in the ears, facial pain, difficulty opening and closing your mouth, and jaw locking when talking, yawning or eating.

Transcript

TMD sometimes called TMJ is a cycle of pain muscle spasms and jaw joint problems that results when the teeth chewing muscles and jaw joints don't work together harmoniously the letters TMD stand for temporal mandibular dysfunction this refers to problems with the muscles and joints that join the Mand bone of the jaw to the temporal bone at the base of the skull symptoms may include headaches worn teeth painful muscles in the face neck and shoulders clicking and popping of the jaw joint earaches pain behind the eyes difficulty opening and closing the mouth ringing in the ears tingling hands and other problems there are many causes of TMD such as grinding of teeth an injury and emotional stress but a very common cause is a bad bite when teeth are missing out of alignment or worn away the teeth can't come together evenly this forces the jaw to shift position and the muscles to work harder than they ideally should to bring the teeth together you bring your teeth together to swallow thousands of times a day if your bite is out of alignment this often causes constant muscle tension which leads to muscle fatigue spasm and pain the constant strain on the muscles can also pull the disc that cushions the jaw joint out of position if this happens the bones of the jaw jaw joint can rub against each other in the nerves causing pain and damaging The Joint fortunately TMD is treatable first we'll analyze your bite using Advanced Equipment to identify any problems then we may have you wear a custom crafted bite splint called an orthotic for the next several months to relax the muscles restore balance to the jaw joint and stabilize the bite once we have stabilized your bite we can permanently correct it depending on your situation we may replace missing teeth move teeth with orthodontic treatment or place crowns and veneers on all of the teeth millions of people suffer from TMD but with treatment we can relieve pain and restore Harmony to the teeth muscles and jaw joint

Getting Help
Your dentist can recommend treatment for TMD. A nighttime mouth guard can help stop the teeth grinding. More severe cases can treated with physical therapy, ice and hot packs, and posture training. TMD is usually cyclical and may return when the patient experiences stress.

Questions about TMD

Can’t I just use a store-bought mouth guard?
If your dentist determines that you need a mouth guard, you need an appliance that fits your specific bite. Using any other device can actually do more harm than good.

Is surgery my only option for TMD treatment?
In about 95 percent of cases your dentist can recommend non-surgical treatment for TMD. Strengthening exercises, massage therapy, reducing stress, and mouth guards are a few of the options available to decrease symptoms and relieve your discomfort.

What causes TMD?
When your TMJ are out of sync, the associated muscles get fatigued and the nerves become strained. Common causes of TMD include stress, trauma, teeth grinding, arthritis, improperly fitting dental work, and posture issues.