TMJ — Temporomandibular Joint Irregularity
Some 60 million Americans have TMJ dysfunction of some sort. Simply put, TMJ is the syndrome that happens when the muscles in the jaw and the temporomandibular joint are out of alignment or misaligned, causing problems when chewing. In plain English, the ligaments, muscles, bones and joints do not line up, causing pain.
- Some Symptoms Associated with TMJ:
- a clicking, popping or grating sound when opening or closing the mouth
- headaches and/or dizziness
- tenderness in the jaw muscles
- earache
- jaws that sometimes lock open when yawning or if mouth is held open
- spasm or cramps in the jaw area (very common)
- What Causes TMJ? These are the most common causes:
- accidents
- developmental (natural) defects, including the wearing-down of teeth or fillings causing a misalignment of the teeth
- surgery
- orthodontics
- stress that causes clenching of the jaws and grinding of the teeth
- Hormonal changes — Most TMJ problems are seen in 40-something old women.
- naturally misaligned teeth
- Pain Medications — Frequently people take pain medications to reduce TMJ headaches — when the pain meds wear off, the TMJ headaches can be worse, not better — requiring more pain meds, etc, etc…
- The Good News
- TMJ problems seem to disappear when people near retirement age.
- What Can be Done to Correct TMJ?
- The Doctor may recommend a variety of simple exercises to make you more aware of how to manage your TMJ. Ideally you will be able to develop various good habits that help you manage your TMJ problems without additonal cost or care. Frequently, these biofeedback solutions are all that is needed.
- If the temporomandibular area has been damaged by arthritis or as a result of an accident, surgery may be needed to correct the TMJ and re-establish the proper occlusion.
- If the biofeedback solutions mentioned above don’t work, we will recommend a therapy that may include a bite splint and specific exercises to keep the teeth from touching and to allow the joint to remain lined up, allowing the jaw’s hinge area to relax.
- Such therapy increases your comfort by diminishing the TMJ pain.
Splint Therapy
- If a splint is prescribed for you, it is very important that you follow your doctor’s instructions regarding the amount of time and time of day you must wear it.
- If your condition is temporomandibular joint irregularity (TMJ), you may need to wear your splint all the time unless directed otherwise.
- It may be recommended that you do not remove the splint when you eat, as this would compromise your treatment and diminish its effect. The splint stops tooth-to-tooth contact and keeps your jaw lined up properly, allowing the muscles and joint area to heal.
- As this healing takes place and the symptoms gradually disappear, your doctor will adjust your splint to keep your teeth properly aligned. There is a charge for this sort of adjustment service related to the cmoplexity and frequency of the adjustments.
- During this period of your therapy, you will begin wearing the splint fewer hours of the day and, after a period of time; you will no longer need to wear a splint.
- Grinding (“bruxism”) and Clenching: These conditions require you to wear your splint only at night, while sleeping.
- Splint Care and Maintenance
- We may offer a variety of different kinds of splints, each with different care and maintenance suggestions. Typically, most have the following features in common
- Clean the splint by brushing it.
- Keep it in water and mouthwash solution when it is not in your mouth.
- Thin heat formed appliance will be destroyed if put in very hot water.
- Laboratory appliances are thicker, typically clear or pink appliances made of denture materials. They may be cared for with denture cleansers.