Temporomandibular joint disorders (sometimes called just TMJ or TMD) affect millions of Americans daily. Although many cases of TMJ disorders resolve on their own, some require professional care to treat. The source of these disorders is the jaw, but their symptoms can be wide-ranging, and might be felt in your head, neck, fingers, and back. These symptoms can range from annoying to disruptive to disabling in their severity.
Our experienced dental team is eager to provide reliable and effective TMD treatment options to help relieve the symptoms that go along with TMJ disorder. This is one of the ways that we can use oral healthcare to significantly improve your overall quality of life.
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What Is TMJ Disorder?
The temporomandibular joint connects the lower jaw to the skull. It’s one of the most complicated joints in the body, since it allows many complex movements. You can move your jaw up and down, forward and back, side to side, and even tilt left and right. In addition, when functioning properly, the two joints must work harmoniously together.
A disorder is caused when the joints and muscles stop functioning correctly. There are many potential causes of this, including:
– Jaw trauma
– Jaw whiplash
– Crooked teeth
– Bad habits (using teeth as tools, chewing nonfood objects, etc.)
– Unhealthy development of the jaw
– Teeth clenching and grinding
– Jaw trauma
– Jaw whiplash
– Crooked teeth
– Unhealthy development of the jaw
– Bad habits (using teeth as tools, chewing nonfood objects, etc.)
– Teeth clenching and grinding
Other times, we might not know what caused a TMJ disorder.
Symptoms of TMJ Disorder
TMJ disorders can be hard to diagnose because they cause many different symptoms, and these symptoms can be so disparate that people and their doctors may not realize that they’re linked.
Some of the symptoms people report with TMJ include:
– Headaches
– Neck pain
– Facial pain
– Excessive tooth wear
– Toothaches
– Ear pain
– Ear fullness
– Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
– Hearing loss
– Vertigo
– Tingling and numbness in the face, neck, jaw, arms, or fingers
– Jaw pain
– Jaw sounds (clicking, popping, and grinding)
– Irregular jaw motion
– Limited jaw motion
– Locked jaw
– Jaw pain
– Jaw sounds (clicking, popping, and grinding)
– Irregular jaw motion
– Limited jaw motion
– Locked jaw
– Headaches
– Neck pain
– Facial pain
– Excessive tooth wear
– Toothaches
– Ear pain
– Ear fullness
– Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
– Hearing loss
– Vertigo
– Tingling and numbness in the face, neck, jaw, arms, or fingers
These symptoms might seem hard to link together, but neuromuscular dentistry explains how TMJ disorder creates them all.
TMJ Diagnosis
TMJ dentist Dr. Kuchta can provide you with a thorough consultation to diagnose your TMJ disorder.
First, we’ll collect a detailed medical history to see what symptoms you have and what might have led to a TMJ disorder. Next, Dr. Kuchta will perform a physical examination to identify the nature of and source of your pain. This may include touching the sore muscles as well as potential trigger points that could be the source of your pain, even though you don’t feel it there.
In some cases, Dr. Kuchta might use CBCT to look in detail at the structure of your temporomandibular joints. We can often see displacement or damage of the joint, though this isn’t always visible.
We might want to relax your jaw using TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation). This uses a gentle current to massage your muscles, helping them release their tension and freeing them from habitual clenching that might keep them from moving naturally. Measuring muscle tension as you move your jaw before and after TENS may reveal your jaw’s optimal resting position, which might not be where you tend to hold your jaw based on your current bite.
Dr. Kuchta may also use Occlusense to measure the balance of bite forces to identify imbalances in your bite.
What Are TMJ Treatment Options?
There are many TMJ treatment options, but which one is best for you will depend on the nature of your TMD. These include:
Periodic TENS Treatment: For some people, the relaxation provided by TENS treatments can eliminate symptoms.
Injectable Medications: In other cases, injectable medications such as muscle relaxants or pain medications can relieve TMJ symptoms.
Bite Splint: For people with recurring TMD, the problem may be their bite position. Holding their jaw in a stressful position can cause the return of TMJ symptoms. To prevent this, Dr. Kuchta will order a bite splint that holds your jaw in a healthy position.
Full Mouth Reconstruction: Once we determine your healthy bite position and confirm it through successful treatment with a bite splint, we might recommend full mouth reconstruction. Sometimes called Phase 2 TMJ Treatment, this procedure reshapes your teeth so that they will hold your jaw in the same position as the bite splint. You get the results of wearing a bite sprint 24/7 without actually having to wear it.
Get Relief from TMJ Symptoms
Are you affected by symptoms related to TMD? If so, our park ridge dentist team is eager to provide quick relief to your pain. Contact our dental clinic in Park Ridge for more information regarding treatment options today or set up your next consultation with a team member.
