TMJ disorder

Can Your Jaw Joint Be The Source Of Other Pains?

May 9, 2016

Have you ever found yourself searching the internet for “causes of jaw pain?” How about TMJ pain, jaw popping, pain when chewing, or any other discomfort or difficulty in using your jaw? You’re not alone – around 15 percent of adults have some form of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder (TMD).

You might be wondering if TMJ pain can cause problems for other areas of your body, and the answer is undoubtedly yes. Aside from headaches and dental pain there are some severe problems that can result from untreated TMD. At Really Smile Dentistry we want to help you find TMD relief not only for the sake of your smile, but for the sake of your health and quality of life as well!

Understanding TMJ/TMD

Your TMJ is the spot where your jawbone meets your skull. If aligned properly it can function without problems for life, but that isn’t always the case. Changes in your bite, an injury, arthritis, a bad bite, or any number of other issues can change the way your jaw fits into your skull, and when that happens your TMJ isn’t sitting right.

When your jaw joint isn’t allowed to move like it naturally does it gets seriously painful. It pops, clicks, locks, and sends waves of pain shooting through your face, neck, and back. The longer it’s left untreated the worse it can get too!

From Bite To Body: Feeling TMD Everywhere

Referred pain is a condition where a problem in one part of the body is causing discomfort somewhere else. Take a bad foot for example: you might not be walking right, which causes pain in your hip and back as well.

It’s the same with your jaw – if it’s not allowed to function properly you WILL feel it elsewhere in your body. Where, when, and how severe it happens will vary from person to person, but the pain will come eventually!

Muscles: Just Like Dominos

Don’t think of a muscle as an isolated element of your body: think of each one as a puzzle piece that relies on all its neighbors to make things work right. When something goes wrong with a particular part of the body, like your jaw joint, it throws the muscles around it into disarray. They’re forced to adapt by acting in irregular ways, which in turn forces other muscles to change their behavior as well.

Before you know it you’re experiencing pain in your jaw, your temples, your neck, and your back – all because your jaw joint isn’t working right! The spread and severity of pain can come and go with your TMD symptoms, but all that stiffness and pain is maddening!

Feeling Unnerved?

All those facial muscles surrounding the TMJ are also near a lot of nerves as well. When your jaw is out of alignment and your muscles are feeling irritated or stressed you can end up causing problems for your nerves as well!

Plenty of TMD patients have reported numbness and tingling in their face, neck, chest, and arms because of their jaws, which can be absolutely terrifying.

It Taps Into Your Spine Too

Stiff sore muscles cause a lot of fatigue and strain on other body parts. In the case of your back and neck that strain can result in posture problems because of the way your jaw is pulling on the muscles of your neck and face.

Over time you can develop poor posture, constant backaches, and a strained neck – all because of your jaw joint! It’s hard to believe that such a simple sounding problem can do so much, but that just goes to show you how connected every part of the body is!

Getting Relief For TMJ Pain

At Really Smile Dentistry we use a series of advanced diagnostic tests to measure your jaw function and prescribe the best treatment for your unique case. From 3D imaging and X-rays to bite tests and visual exams, we’ll be able to expertly diagnose you and get you the help you need.

We specialize in neuromuscular dentistry at our Carmel office, a process by which we find how each part of your jaw and its muscles is acting incorrectly in order to fix it permanently. Using a variety of treatments we aim to eliminate your TMD, not just treat the symptoms.

We’re confident that we can deliver permanent, effective relief to your TMJ pain. All you have to do is pick up the phone and call us at 317-451-4050 or you can request an appointment online. We hope to see you soon!

Retrain Your Muscles To Eliminate Jaw Pain!

November 21, 2015

Have you ever woken up with intense pain in your jaw? Does opening your mouth too far trigger pain near your ears? These are both signs that you might be suffering from temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMD.

At Really Smile we can treat TMD but we don’t just want to relieve your symptoms! Many treatments for jaw pain rely on making you feel better without actually determining what the root cause is – we don’t want to leave you in that kind of position so we’ll treat you by retraining your muscles!

What Is TMD?

Your temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, is the joint that allows your jaw to open and close. Located right in front of your ear canal, it is a simple joint that is cushioned with a small bit of cartilage. There are a lot of reasons that you can end up with pain in your TMJ, which can end up developing into TMD if it becomes chronic.

Symptoms of TMD are numerous but they all boil down to a few basic issues: pain in the jaw, facial muscles, and neck. That pain is accompanied by trouble sleeping, headaches, clicking or popping when you chew, lockjaw, and potential swelling and inflammation around the joint. Our treatment goals are always first and foremost to relieve pain. Then we can start working on treating you to make sure it doesn’t come back!

There are a wide variety of conditions that cause TMD which is one of the reasons it’s so hard to treat properly! Arthritis of the TMJ, a bad bite, teeth clenching and grinding, and slipping of the cartilage disk in the joint are all common causes. It’s very common for treatment to simply involve addressing the symptoms and never treating the problem itself – that’s not the case at our Carmel dentist office!

How We Treat TMD

If you come to Really Smile because of pain in your TMJ we’ll start by taking a series of detailed X-rays and 3D digital images to get a super-accurate and detailed look at your jaw bone and muscles. We want to be able to get a complete look to rule out any potential issues!

We’ll be able to determine possible causes for your TMD and assess the best treatments for you in no time at all! Because all of our imaging equipment is digital we’ll be able to see results almost instantly, allowing you to get the treatment you need in less time than ever before!

Our TMD treatments aren’t just about helping you feel better. We aim to relieve symptoms and treat causes so that you don’t need to worry about discomfort in the future! The most common way to treat TMD is with a mouthguard that you wear at night. These guards are designed to cushion your jaw and relax your muscles so that you wake up feeling rested and comfortable.

While we do use these sorts of mouthguards we don’t believe that treatment stops when you wake up. We design out TMJ mouthguards to be used day and night so that you’re actually correcting your jaw. One of the biggest reasons that TMD continues to cause pain for patients is because you’re only treating symptoms by using a mouthguard for a few hours a day!

Most of the causes of TMD are due to your jaw muscles not being properly aligned. While there may be a need for additional treatment in order to correct your bite or fix a slipped cartilage pad there’s still the underlying cause: your muscles have been mistrained! We prescribe mouthguards that are meant to be worn day and night, at least at first!

By wearing your TMD mouthguard during the day and night you’re helping your muscles find a new home position that allows them to relax. It takes a while to retrain your muscles to work so differently but once you do you’ll be amazed at how much better you feel!

Our TMD treatments all aim to correct that muscle problem. Because it is the root cause of so many other symptoms and origins of TMJ pain it can also be the way to solve the problem for most patients!

Get Relief Now!

Don’t accept treatment for your symptoms when we can treat the cause! We’ll have you feeling better in no time and all it takes is that first phone call! If you’re ready to get permanent relief for your TMJ pain call Really Smile in Carmel today!

You can reach us at 317-451-4050 or you can request an appointment by filling out our online form. We look forward to seeing you soon!

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