Beginners Guide to TMJ Treatment

A Beginners Guide to TMJ Treatment: A New Reason to Smile

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) connects your upper and lower jaws and is responsible for facilitating a complex set of movements that allow you to eat, drink, speak, and express. Even tiny problems concerning the mechanics of such essential joints can lead to chronic pain, severe function impairments, and other TMJ disorders.

Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) affects the connective tissue around the ball-and-socket TMJs that holds your jaws together. We'll help you breathe easier, sleep better and live happier! Our TMJ treatment center is dedicated to providing tailored solutions for TMJ and sleep apnea in Suffolk.

Causes And Symptoms

Some of the most common symptoms associated with TMD are as follows:

• Trismus (Lockjaw)
• Crepitus (Abnormal popping or crackling sound in the jaw)
• Tinnitus (Ringing or heaviness in the ears)
• Vertigo or Dizziness
• Toothache
• Earache
• Migraine
• Blurry Vision
• Muscle Spasms
• Shoulder Pain
• Facial Pain
• Oral Pain
• Jaw Pain
• Cheek Numbness

Factors that contribute to the development of TMJ syndrome include:

• Bruxism (Nocturnal teeth grinding)
• Arthritis
• TMJ Injury
• Bad Bite
• Anxiety & Stress
• Dental Malocclusion (Misalignment of the teeth and jaw)
• Dental Trauma
• Dislocated Jaw
• Habitual Clenching
• Improper Posture
• Orthodontic Brace
• Excessive Chewing

Diagnosis And Treatment

Figuring out the root cause is critical to treating TMD properly, as the success of your TMJ-related dental treatment plan depends solely on eliminating it. The symptoms of TMD can be effectively managed by prescribed medication, physiotherapy, healthier lifestyle changes, and dental appliances like night guards and bite plates.

People suffering from stress, anxiety, or depression often clench their jaw or grind their teeth habitually and unknowingly. Hence, simply prescribing anti-inflammatory pain medication in the name of TMJ treatment will eventually fail, and the patient will suffer horribly because they never handled underlying issues.

Bruxism or nocturnal teeth grinding observed in both adults and children can damage the TMJ and wear out the teeth rapidly. However, specialized dental plates and guards can be customized for patients to relieve the extra pressure on the TMJs and prevent further enamel and dentine degradation.

Radiography and cephalometric analysis of the mouth can also reveal dental malocclusions and bad bite as the root cause of TMD. Our TMJ treatment center advises a fully customized orthodontic approach using the latest devices and braces to fix your bite, teeth alignment, crowding, spacing, and jaw rotation.

If the radiography reveals the TMD stemming from musculoskeletal disorders like arthritis, our in-house TMJ and dental treatment experts suggest a combination of therapies. They are generally prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), are advised soft diet and may need to wear a splint while sleeping to control jaw movements.

The most common TMJ-related dental treatment include muscle relaxant drugs, NSAIDs, hot and cold massages, and gentle workouts. However, at Center For Sleep & TMJ, ultimately curing the condition involves addressing the root cause of the problem. Get in touch with our expert medical team to learn more about treating TMJ and sleep apnea in Suffolk.