If you struggle with regular pain in your jaw, neck, and surrounding areas, you may be experiencing a temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMD. The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the hinge that connects your jaw to your skull—any dysfunction in this important little joint can quickly become a headache!
What Are the Symptoms of TMD?
TMD has a wide range of symptoms, including the following:
- Popping, locking, or clicking jaws.
- Regular jaw pain or headaches, especially in the morning.
- Pain that stems from the jaws but reaches to the neck, shoulders, or back.
- Teeth clenching or grinding.
If you’re regularly experiencing more than one of these symptoms, talk to your dentist! TMD treatment could bring you relief.
What Causes TMD?
There is no single cause of TMD, and the disorder will be different person to person. One common cause is when the TMJ gets misaligned due to trauma or accident, and it is no longer in the proper placement.
Another significant contributor to TMD is chronic jaw clenching and teeth grinding. Too much stress can cause clenching and grinding, and some people may even have bruxism, which is an ailment that causes an involuntary grinding of teeth.
Many people also clench or grind their teeth when they are asleep. There’s not much anyone can do about what they do while they’re sleeping, which can make combatting TMD seem difficult. Fortunately, whatever your cause, we can help you manage clenching and grinding, even if you aren’t aware you’re doing it!
How Is TMD treated?
We have found that occlusal-guard and nightguards can make a big difference to those who suffer from TMD. Wearing these guards can help reduce the jaw, neck, and head pain that’s often a part of TMD. We design and 3D print our own with state of the art machines. In fact some of our own team members and doctors wear a nightguard every night!
For some patients a nightguard may not be a good option, so we offer therapeutic BOTOX injections to our patients. In some cases BOTOX injections are more effective, because patients may be suffering from more than just TMD. We treat patients with BOTOX injections for TMJ/TMD, Myofascial pain, and Migraines. In some cases we may need to refer you to our preferred local Neurologist or Pain management Specialist. For more information please visit our page here.
Treat Your TMD and Eliminate Your Jaw Pain Today at Paladin Dental!
Contact us today to schedule an appointment or to learn more about treating TMD.
