The goal of treatment for TMD is to find the most relaxed jaw position, make it permanent, and thus eliminate the painful TMD symptoms. Each person’s TMD treatment is customized to their particular set of symptoms and the causes of their TMD.
How Does TMD Occur?
The lower jaw has a natural resting position called the bite, or in dental language, the occlusion. When you have a “bad bite” (malocclusion), the lower jaw is not moving correctly against the upper jaw. The jaw joint is a ball-and-socket joint with a cartilage pad between the bone surfaces. Anything that pushes or knocks the lower jaw out of its proper relationship with the cartilage pad and the socket in the upper jaw is misaligning the joint – that is, causing TMD.
Examples would be:
· Any strong blow or impact to the side of the head
· Chronic teeth grinding or clenching
· Chronic gum chewing or other gnawing activity such as on pencils
· Misaligned teeth which continually cause the lower jaw to move wrongly
A neuromuscular dentist has specialized equipment to diagnose TMD. You would have an appointment set up for this, and while you wear lightweight devices on the head and jaw area, your neuromuscular dentist would measure, record and analyze a great deal of data to determine whether or not you do have TMD.
TMD Treatment Elements
The treatment could be fairly quick, or rather long-term, depending on what has caused your TMD. It may include several steps, or treatment aspects, and you and your neuromuscular dentist would discuss it ahead of time, and plan the steps to as to fit well within your schedule and budget.
Use of a TENS unit
This small unit (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) has electrodes. When attached to strategic spots on the head, neck and face areas, they deliver mild electrical stimulation to the muscles, causing them to contract and relax. After about 30 or 40 minutes of this, as you relax or doze off in a comfortable chair, those jaw muscles will be relaxed, perhaps for the first time in many years
Dental Work
Misaligned teeth are very often part of the TMD situation, often a cause of it. Your neuromuscular dentist might well also be a cosmetic dentist. This is usually the case when that dentist has graduated from the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI), the premier school for post-graduate dental training.
To help correct the misaligned bite, teeth may need to be repositioned or reshaped. This can be done with laser work, porcelain crowns, dental implants if you have missing teeth, or perhaps replacing some of the fillings.
Oral Appliances
Your oral appliance would be custom-made to be worn at night. It could help reduce tooth grinding while you sleep, and could help retrain the jaw muscles to maintain them in a relaxed position
Some Changes of Habit
If your TMD has been caused, or partially caused, by habits which keep your jaw muscles tense, you would need to phase them out. An oral appliance would help with unconscious tooth grinding, and during the day you would do well to give up chewing and gnawing habits. Usually they are the result of emotional stress or anxiety. In some cases it helps to have physical therapy or some type of counseling.
Medications
You may have a temporary pain medication, especially if you have suffered from the chronic TMD headaches. Some people have a calming medication for a while to help with unlearning a tooth clenching or gum chewing habit. This would all be discussed with your neuromuscular dentist.
Don’t Delay in Seeing a Neuromuscular Dentist
Left untreated, TMD symptoms can worsen, increase your pain, and affect areas of the body beyond the jaw and mouth. Tooth loss can occur, requiring more extensive dental work, such as dental implants. And the longer your TMD goes untreated, the more difficult it will become to alleviate your symptoms with simple measures. That’s why it is so important to see a qualified neuromuscular dentist as soon as you suspect you may be suffering from TMD.
How Does TMD Occur?
The lower jaw has a natural resting position called the bite, or in dental language, the occlusion. When you have a “bad bite” (malocclusion), the lower jaw is not moving correctly against the upper jaw. The jaw joint is a ball-and-socket joint with a cartilage pad between the bone surfaces. Anything that pushes or knocks the lower jaw out of its proper relationship with the cartilage pad and the socket in the upper jaw is misaligning the joint – that is, causing TMD.
Examples would be:
· Any strong blow or impact to the side of the head
· Chronic teeth grinding or clenching
· Chronic gum chewing or other gnawing activity such as on pencils
· Misaligned teeth which continually cause the lower jaw to move wrongly
A neuromuscular dentist has specialized equipment to diagnose TMD. You would have an appointment set up for this, and while you wear lightweight devices on the head and jaw area, your neuromuscular dentist would measure, record and analyze a great deal of data to determine whether or not you do have TMD.
TMD Treatment Elements
The treatment could be fairly quick, or rather long-term, depending on what has caused your TMD. It may include several steps, or treatment aspects, and you and your neuromuscular dentist would discuss it ahead of time, and plan the steps to as to fit well within your schedule and budget.
Use of a TENS unit
This small unit (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) has electrodes. When attached to strategic spots on the head, neck and face areas, they deliver mild electrical stimulation to the muscles, causing them to contract and relax. After about 30 or 40 minutes of this, as you relax or doze off in a comfortable chair, those jaw muscles will be relaxed, perhaps for the first time in many years
Dental Work
Misaligned teeth are very often part of the TMD situation, often a cause of it. Your neuromuscular dentist might well also be a cosmetic dentist. This is usually the case when that dentist has graduated from the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI), the premier school for post-graduate dental training.
To help correct the misaligned bite, teeth may need to be repositioned or reshaped. This can be done with laser work, porcelain crowns, dental implants if you have missing teeth, or perhaps replacing some of the fillings.
Oral Appliances
Your oral appliance would be custom-made to be worn at night. It could help reduce tooth grinding while you sleep, and could help retrain the jaw muscles to maintain them in a relaxed position
Some Changes of Habit
If your TMD has been caused, or partially caused, by habits which keep your jaw muscles tense, you would need to phase them out. An oral appliance would help with unconscious tooth grinding, and during the day you would do well to give up chewing and gnawing habits. Usually they are the result of emotional stress or anxiety. In some cases it helps to have physical therapy or some type of counseling.
Medications
You may have a temporary pain medication, especially if you have suffered from the chronic TMD headaches. Some people have a calming medication for a while to help with unlearning a tooth clenching or gum chewing habit. This would all be discussed with your neuromuscular dentist.
Don’t Delay in Seeing a Neuromuscular Dentist
Left untreated, TMD symptoms can worsen, increase your pain, and affect areas of the body beyond the jaw and mouth. Tooth loss can occur, requiring more extensive dental work, such as dental implants. And the longer your TMD goes untreated, the more difficult it will become to alleviate your symptoms with simple measures. That’s why it is so important to see a qualified neuromuscular dentist as soon as you suspect you may be suffering from TMD.
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