Your temporomandibular joints rest on both sides of your face, in front of your ears. They connect your lower jawbone to the skull and aid movements such as speaking and chewing. Complications with your jawbone may turn out to be extensive and traumatic, causing a lot of pain and discomfort. Such problems not only bother your jawbone but the entire head. In this situation, we use TMJ therapy as a treatment to relieve you of the pain and discomfort and to improve the functionality of your mouth.
TMJ disorder is the result of grinding or clenching of teeth.
If the disc between the ball and socket joint dislocates, it may lead to temporomandibular joint disorder.
This problem is also the result of arthritis in your temporomandibular joints, acute trauma, or an improper bite.
The condition is common in people of age 20-40 years. Interestingly, TMJ is more common in women than men. You may experience symptoms like severe headaches, pain in the jaw, earache, pain in your neck and shoulder, difficulty opening your mouth wide, etc. TMJ disorder also locks your jaw in the open or closed-mouth position.
Other symptoms of this disorder include clicking or popping sounds in your jaw joint, ringing in the ears, difficulty chewing, tiredness, toothache, and swelling on the side of your face.
When you visit us for the treatment of this disorder, we will suggest the use of oral appliance therapy. It includes wearing splints and nightguards. Both these mouthpieces fit your upper or lower teeth. When you wear them, they provide stable tooth contacts when you close your mouth. Mouthguards also help correct your bite problems by placing your jaw in a suitable position.
While mouthguards are worn only during the night, you may wear splints throughout the day. We will customize these appliances to offer a perfect fit.
Along with offering oral appliance therapy, we may also give you some pain relievers and muscle relaxants to alleviate soreness caused because of TMJ. Medication will help relax the tight jaw muscles on your face, thus relieving the pressure on the jawbone.
We will suggest you do some mouth exercises to strengthen your jaw muscles and relax your constricted stress points.
If your TMJ disorder is because of bruxism, we will treat your condition to relieve the pain from your jaws.
We will use this therapy if conventional methods do not solve your problem.
To find out more about the dental services offered at South Friendswood Dental, call (281) 482-7731 or schedule an online consultation. You can also visit us at 699 S Friendswood, Dr Suite, #108, Friendswood, TX 77546.
