The temporomandibular joint is the joint connecting the lower jaw or mandible to the temporal bones of the skull. This joint is bilateral; this means that it’s on both sides of your face and frontal to your ears. The joint has a complicated design with several muscles, bones, ligaments, and other structures. All these enable you to move the mandible forward, backward, and side-to-side, which are all necessary gestures to chew, talk, and yawn.
When this joint deteriorates, it causes different jaw-related problems. These issues wrongly receive the title of TMJ as short for the joint name. The actual name of these problems is temporomandibular disorder (TMD). The cardinal symptom of these issues is the intense face pain patients feel. Other symptoms of TMJ dysfunction are joint clicking, locked jaw, neck or facial swelling, tinnitus, toothaches, and headaches.
Although this ailment is not a risk for health, it aggravates over time. TMJ or TMD often present with other diseases such as poor bite alignment, crooked teeth, and sleep apnea. These conditions lead to complex scenarios such as tooth decay, gum disease, and even death.
The treatment options for this condition start with a home-based line of care. The following are helpful things you can do to find relief:
- Avoid foods and meals that require large bites and plenty of chewing. Limit your diet to soft foods.
- Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication is an excellent aid to ease the pain.
- Avoid making extreme or unnecessary jaw movements, such as eating chewing gum, singing, or yelling. These movements aggravate this problem.
- Put on heat packs on the side of your face for 10 minutes, twice a day.
- Usually, TMJ patients live a stressful life. You can find relief by using stress management techniques that help you relax.
- Release the muscle tension you might feel on your neck with a massage of the area.
If these tips aren’t helpful to you, it’s a sign that your TMD is in critical condition. This problem needs diagnosis and treatment from a qualified dentist near you to avoid further damage.
TMJ treatment in Davie includes simple, secure, and effective non-surgical options. These are especially helpful for people who don’t acknowledge their bruxism or teeth grinding. TMJ treatment near you can include the NTIt-ss method, which is an oral appliance specially built to fit precisely in your mouth. This device will reduce the amount of stress over the TMJ joint and protect tooth enamel.
This solution offered by any dentist in Davie is not like drugstore athletic or boil-and-bite mouthguards. The device is light enough that it fits comfortably and ensures a restful night of sleep.
Furthermore, physical therapy can be necessary to reduce symptoms of the TMD successfully. Diverse massage techniques from a physical therapist help to strengthen your jaw. This treatment is an excellent option for patients with a locked jaw. A physical therapist needs ultrasounds to deliver a better evaluation of the damaged structures that worsen the TMD. In addition, they will provide a behavioral assessment to prevent further damage to the joint.
After the previous treatment options fail to relieve your pain, surgical options arise to offer the ultimate solution to the problem. The procedures are either non-invasive or conventional open joint surgery. These procedures include arthrocentesis, TMJ arthroscopy, and condylotomy.
If TMD doesn’t receive treatment, pain escalation is a strong possibility. The unbearable levels of pain can cause depression and eating disorders. In these cases, there is an imperious need of medical intervention. Moreover, this trouble can also affect oral health and hearing. Therefore, it’s important that you schedule an appointment with a professional to end your TMJ pain.