Treatment Options for TMJ Disorder

When patients seek treatment for TMJ disorder from dentists in Collin County, those patients often are at wit’s end. With jaw and neck pain, headaches and clicking and popping noises in the jaw plaguing them, these patients are looking for relief in any form.

The temporomandibular joint—the source of TMJ disorder—connects the lower jaw to the rest of the skull. Because it must be capable of lateral and vertical movements, this joint is a particularly complex structure, and understandably many things can go wrong with it, leading to TMJ disorder.

Fortunately, dentists can recommend a self-care routine that helps patients to alleviate many of their TMJ symptoms. Pain can be managed by applying heat or using ice packs, along with using over-the-counter painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen.

Patients who suffer from TMJ disorders may also need to adjust their diets, incorporating more soft foods and avoiding items that are very hard and crunchy and require extensive chewing.

Stress can often exacerbate TMJ pain and disorders, so dentists may also prescribe relaxation exercises as a method for reducing symptoms. Similarly, bruxism, or teeth grinding, may lead to TMJ pain, so your dentist may give you a custom-fitted mouthguard to wear at night to prevent grinding.

If simpler approaches are not effective, your dentist may recommend orthodontic treatment to bring the jaw into proper alignment. Another potential treatment involves electrical stimulation of the nerves surrounding the jaw joint to relax the muscles. The dentist can also inject pain medication directly into the jaw joint if other painkillers are ineffective.

In extreme cases that do not respond to any other interventions, surgical procedures may be required to re-set the jaw. These procedures may reposition or replace the jaw joint or some of its components. Again, surgery is a very rare course of treatment for TMJ.

If you are experiencing TMJ disorder-related facial pain, your dentist may take x-rays or use other imaging techniques to get a better view of the jaw, which can help the dentist to plan the proper course of treatment. It’s important to follow your dentist’s recommendations to get relief from TMJ disorder.