TMD/Orofacial: Steps to Diagnosis

TMD/OROFACIAL Patient Registration

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the joint between your skull and the mandible (lower jaw). The two TMJ's are located in front of your ears and each joint has a small disc of cartilage that allows smooth movement. Muscles and ligaments stabilize the joint. When specific muscles contract, they move the mandible (lower jaw) to allow chewing and talking. In addition to jaw joint pain and dysfunction, difficulty with swallowing and snoring can be related to TMJ disorders. Women experience TMJ disorders much more often than men.
Our goal is to diagnose and offer appropriate treatment that will help combat your head, neck, and facial pain or joint dysfunction. Treatment focuses on alleviating TMJ-associated pain, improving jaw function and stabilizing the joint. Even some fibromyalgia, tinnitus and migraine patients may be helped with our conservative, non-invasive treatment.

SYMPTOMS of TMJ Disorders:

• -Headaches
• -Clicking, popping or grating sounds
• -Limited jaw opening or locking
• -Earaches, congestion or ringing ears
• -Dizziness
• -Pain with chewing
• -Facial pain
• -Neck pain or stiffness and/or throat pain
• -Difficulty in closing the teeth
• -Tired Jaws

Causes of TMJ Disorders

Because the TMJ is so complex, many factors can contribute to TMJ disorders including stress, lack of sleep and bruxing (jaw clenching and grinding). Other factors such as malocclusion (bad bite), medications, poor nutrition, poor posture, past head and neck trauma, orthopedic problems and poor dental health may also lead to problems. In fact, any malfunction that prevents the complex system of muscles, bones and ligaments from working together may lead to TMJ disorder.

Diagnosis

Correctly diagnosing a TMJ disorder requires a review of your health history and symptoms, a complete head and neck examination, appropriate x-rays and other testing procedures. If needed, special diagnostic procedures such as joint vibration analysis, or computerized joint tracking can be used to determine the condition of the TMJ and associated muscles.

When head pain dictates lives and sufferers visit doctor after doctor, without results - a trained, experienced dentist can be the answer!

Treatment

After diagnosis, Dr. Van der Werff will help you understand your condition and work with you to help you choose an appropriate treatment plan. Many times, patients benefit from a custom-fitted oral device - a splint (or orthotic) made of clear acrylic. The splint fits over the top or bottom teeth and helps eliminate muscle spasms and pain association with TMJ disorders, by stabilizing the joint.

We may also recommend medications, physical therapy, stress management, nutritional counseling and self-help information. More advanced treatment may include prolotherapy or trigger point therapy. We also work with other health care providers to optimize your treatment. Only 2-3% of all TMJ disorder patients require surgery.

More Info:

For more information on TMJ Disorders and the pain the cause, please Visit:
The American Academy of Craniofacial Pain at: http://www.aacfp.org
The American Academy of ORofacial Pain at: http://www.aaop.org