TMJ/Jaw Pain
About TMJ/Jaw Pain
The temporomandibular joint or TMJ is a sliding hinge and of the connectors of your lower jaw to your skull. It can be found in front of the ear on your right and left sides.
Disorders of the temporomandibular joint or TMJ can result in pain, a clicking or grinding sound, limitations in mouth opening, ringing of ears or fullness in the ears.
TMD is a condition that can be multi-factorial in its origin. In other words, it can be brought on by 1 thing or a combination of many things. These may include:
- Genetics -Misaligned bite/teeth
- Arthritis -Muscle fatigue or weakness
- Injury/trauma -hyper-active muscles
- Neurological/Nerve -Tooth Grinding
- Jaw clenching -Skeletal Imbalance
With all of these possible causes, sometimes on focus of treatment may not be enough. You may have tried other forms of therapy and you are still having pain. You are not “crazy” You may not have exercised all of the possibilities of cause.
At Facial Kinetics we don’t use a one size fits all philosophy. Your treatment may involve one approach, it may have multiple approaches working in different areas. In most cases, the cause is inflammation, which make inflammation reduction our primary goal.
Orthotics
We utilize all custom orthotics for most TMD patients. Sometimes they are refferred to as splints or mouth guards. One of the best ways to reduce inflammation is to reduce the use of that area and muscle group. These custom guards prevent full closure of teeth, preventing full contraction of the muscle group.
Please note this is custom designed for you and your teeth using medical grade materials. These will be very different than a generic over the counter mouth piece you can purchase yourself.
We will either take digital scans or impressions depending on the type of appliance we think works best for you.
In Office Therapies
In some cases the orthotic alone is not enough to calm the muscles and relax the joint. It may be necessary to use muscle relaxation techniques, ultra-sound, cold laser, micro-current electrical stimulation, and the newest technology for muscle therapy “Shock Wave” therapy.
We also utilize the TruDenta system as one of our treatment methods. For more information please visit TruDenta.com