Have you been noticing pain or discomfort in your jaw that seems out of proportion with your daily activities? Are you experiencing headaches and fatigue? It may be that your jaw is to blame. Your jaw muscles and your temporomandibular joint are in a central location and when there is tension or inflammation it can affect many different areas of your health.
At Cynthia J Mikula, DDS, Inc., we specialize in treating TMJ disorders and helping our patients in Bay Village, OH to regain their quality of life through therapies and medications.
What Is TMJ Disorder?
TMJ disorder, often called TMD or TMJD, is a term that describes any type of dysfunction that happens in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Sometimes the joint can become inflamed or move out of place when you open and close your jaw. Other types of disorders can be caused by tension and spasms in the muscles around your TMJ joint.
What Causes TMJ Disorder?
TMD can be caused by many different situations. If you have a significant amount of stress in your life, you may be grinding your teeth at night or clenching your jaw while you sleep. This overuse can cause the jaw to become tired, inflamed, and irritated. Sometimes TMD can also be caused by an improper bite either from genetics or habit.
Individuals who have had an injury to the face or jaw can sometimes develop TMJ disorder. Injuries can include blows to the jaw, car accidents, falls, and more. Sometimes opening the mouth too wide or having poor dental work done can also trigger symptoms of TMD.
What Symptoms Can TMJ Disorder Causes?
TMJ Disorder can be a very complex disease that affects multiple parts of the body. While jaw pain is the most common symptom, it can often be accompanied by the following symptoms:
- Headaches: When you have inflammation and pain in the TMJ and surrounding muscles, this pain can often be referred to other areas of the face and head. It is common for sufferers of TMD to have headaches.
- Dizziness: Inflammation of the TMJ can affect the sensors in the ears that help you to feel stable. This can lead to patients feeling dizzy or having a loss of balance.
- Frequent Earaches and Tinnitus: The temporomandibular joint is located right next to the ear. Pain in the TMJ can often feel like an earache. Additionally, inflammation can also cause parts of the ear, such as the Eustachian tubes, to become inflamed and congested and these problems can sometimes cause ringing in the ears (tinnitus).
- Clicking in the Jaw: A common side effect of TMJ disorder is a painful clicking in the jaw when you try to open it. This is often how we diagnose TMD at our office.
- Difficulty Opening the Jaw Wide: If your TMJ is out of position or the surrounding muscles have tension, it can be difficult to open the jaw all the way.
- Facial Pain: Facial pain can be a side effect of TMD because the joint is located very near one of the facial nerves. This can cause pain in the temples, cheeks, throat, and more.
- Fatigue: Many patients with TMJ experience fatigue as their brain compensates for the pain and other side effects.
- Depression: With any type of pain disorder, there is a greater chance that the patient will experience depression. If you are experiencing depression because of TMJ pain, you should never hesitate to reach out to a doctor for help. We have many different ways that we can help to treat TMD.
What Treatments Do We Offer for TMJ Disorder?
At our practice, we believe that conservative and reversible treatments for TMD should be used whenever possible. In the majority of cases, TMD is temporary and not degenerative and can be treated and reversed without using permanent or invasive procedures. Here are the treatments we may pursue:
Self-Care Guidelines
Treatment of TMD can often begin by caring for the joint and giving it time to heal. We may recommend eating soft foods and applying heat or ice to the area to help reduce inflammation. You may also want to avoid chewing gum or opening your mouth too wide.
Night Guards and Bite Plates
If stress, teeth grinding, and clenching are the primary sources of your TMJ disorder, we can help treat the root of the problem by fitting you with night guards or bite plates. The night guards that we prescribe are a better fit than those that can be purchased over the counter because they are customized to fit your mouth.
Stretching and Gentle Exercises
Certain stretches and exercises can be used to relax and strengthen the surrounding muscles. You should always talk to us before starting any exercises so that we can make sure they will be safe and helpful in your situation.
Pain and Anti-Inflammatory Medicine
For some people, reducing the inflammation in the area can help to resolve the symptoms and reverse the condition. We can prescribe medications that may be helpful treatments for your TMJ disorder.
Managing TMD During Dental Appointments
Many people with TMJ disorder find dental appointments difficult because they have to keep their mouths open for long periods of time. By visiting our office, you will get to work with professionals who understand this difficulty. During our dental examinations, procedures, and cleanings, we offer compassionate service that caters to patients with TMD. We can prescribe medications that you can use before and after your dental work to help reduce pain and inflammation. We can also let you rest throughout the procedure as often as you need to in order to keep your jaw from having pain.
Treatment for TMJ Disorder
If you are in Bay Village, OH and you are experiencing jaw pain or any of the above symptoms, we may be able to help with our TMJ disorder treatment. We can help you determine the cause of your pain and resolve it through the least invasive means possible. At Cynthia J. Mikula, DDS, we are always here to help our patients with TMD. Contact us online or by phone today.
