TMJ Therapy
TMJ / TMD Symptoms
TMJ disorder ( called "TMD") often takes years to fully develop and can affect several muscles in the body. Most people struggle with TMD at least to some extent, however there are several symptoms that indicate a call for treatment.
Pounding headaches that feel like migraine headaches
Persistent face or jaw pain
Aching neck and shoulder muscles
Swollen jaw or face muscles
Toothaches, earaches and hearing problems
Limited ability to open
Misaligned bite
The Source Behind the Jaw Pain
The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the point where the jaw and skull connect in a ball and socket hinge in front of each ear. Because this joint controls chewing, talking and biting, it is considered the most frequently used joint in the body. The end of the lower jaw fits into a socket in the skull, separated by a disk meant to absorb stress. TMD most commonly develops when the teeth do not fit together properly, resulting in malocclusion, or a bad bite. This strains the head muscles and consequently the temporomandibular joint, resulting in jaw, neck or shoulder pain and severe headaches. TMJ or TMD can additionally be caused by several factors:
Grinding or clenching teeth
Injuries to the head or face
Arthritis
Displacement of disc between jawbone and socket
Wear and tear on teeth
Bad bite
TMD Therapy
After an initial consultation, we design a specialized plan to realign the bite and teeth to their optimal location. This often requires the use of a Bite Guard. This is a thin acrylic upper guard which snaps over your teeth. This TMJ treatment approach offers a long-term solution to eliminate headaches, jaw pain and other symptoms of TMJ disorders.
IVORY DENTAL TMJ PROTOCOL
Bite splints or “occlusal guards” are very common. Ask around and you’ll soon realize that many of your friends and family wear one at night. Typically these types of guards are worn by people that consistently clench and/or grind their teeth at night. Clenching and grinding can increase the incidince of tooth fracture by up to 7x the normal rate! Meaning that if you have large fillings or weaker teeth - you are at risk to break those teeth. I’ve even seen patients with NO fillings crack thier molars due to the extreme forces created during night time clenching and grinding. Not only can teeth break, but clenching can create a “charlie horse” effect in the jaw muscles/temples causing pain, soreness and headaches. Here is our protocol for treating TMJ issues at Ivory.
Step 1 - Dental Exam
During your exam we’ll ask questions about your clenching and grinding history. Many times people don’t actually know they are grinding unless a spouse tells them…usually it sounds like a horrible grinding or creaking sound. And, cleanching patients are sometimes not aware of their clenching untill we narrow down symptoms they have been recently experiencing. Symptoms like:
muscle soreness on the side of their face
popping or clicing in their TMJ
problems biting down or opening their jaw wide
headaches or muscles aches in the temple area
When these signs and symptoms are identified we’ll often move on to step 2.
Step 2 - TMJ Massage - Stretch and Exercises
If your TMJ symtoms are mild and inconsistent. Often we’ll try TMJ stretch and exercise before moving on to the dental splint. If you clench often and ESPECIALLY if you grind…we will also reccomend a splint asap. The muscles that often trigger myofacial pain “face muscle pain” are the masseter and temporalis muscles. The anatomy picture at the top of the page will show you where these muscles are located. When you clench and grind all night long you are basically overloading and stressing these muscles. Because of this, they often spasm and cramp during the daytime…causing you pain or discomfort. Stretching and massage can often help aleviate mild TMJ issues. We usually reccomened avoiding hard and chewy foods, making sure to keep teeth apart, “tongue up and teeth apart” during the day; and a regimen of stretch and massage to help sooth the muscles. Check out the videos below to learn these techniques!
Step 3 - Bite Guard
As mentioned earlier, if you clench regularily or grind your teeth; massage and stech alone will not be enough to protect your teeth. We will likely still reccomend you go through the PT (stretch and massage) protocol, but we will also make clear the importance of wearing your bite guard EVERY night in order to help take stress off your jaw joint and protect your teeth. Teeth under the stress of night time clenching or “bruxism” are many times more likely to fracture than normal. The bite guards we fabricate are top of the line, made of hard acrylic with soft internal liner (see image on right). We custom scan your teeth with our state of the art ITERO ELEMENT 3d scanner. No goopy molds or putty for your imressions…This scanner allows us to digitally send a model of your teeth to our partner lab. We then fabricate your guards and try it in before sending it home with you. I have 3 guards, and I can tell when I’ve “cheated” and gone a couple night without wearing it…My teeth get sensitive, my jaw clicks and pops, my temporalis muscles ache…not fun. So, if this sounds familiar, give me a call and I’ll show you what works for us at Ivory!
CHECK OUT DR BRENNY'S VIDEO HIGHLIGHTING 3 WAYS TO COMBAT TMJ RELATED MUSCLE PAIN AND HEADACHES!
