Between 5% and 12% of American adults have some form of temporomandibular disorder (TMD). This disorder affects your temporomandibular joint (TMJ), creating stiffness and pain and leading to headaches and other symptoms. Fortunately, the experienced dental team at Montrose Dental Specialty in Montrose, California, offers personalized care for TMJ and TMD problems. To learn more about the available treatments, call the practice or reach out through the convenient online scheduling tool.
Temporomandibular joint disorder, or temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD), is a disorder that causes pain and dysfunction in your temporomandibular joint (TMJ). These are the hinge joints on either side of your face in front of your ears.
Your TMJs connect your lower jawbone to your skull and help you open and close your mouth, chew, yawn, and speak.
TMJs are vital in your day-to-day life and in maintaining oral health. If you’re experiencing pain or defects in your TMJ, seek medical care right away.
Chronic stress, grinding your teeth at night, jaw injuries, missing or broken teeth, or a joint condition like arthritis can lead to TMJ and TMD problems.
When you visit Montrose Dental Specialty, your provider completes a thorough dental exam and might order X-ray imaging, including a dental cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), which provides a noninvasive 3D image of your jaw.
Your provider asks if you’re experiencing any of the common symptoms of TMJ and TMD, like:
After correctly diagnosing your problems, your provider develops a personalized treatment plan.
Your Montrose Dental Specialty provider could recommend taking an over-the-counter (OTC) medication like a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, or acetaminophen).
They could also recommend using heat or cold packs, doing facial exercises, or eating soft foods to ease symptoms.
The team can also collaborate with outside providers like chiropractors if it can benefit your treatment.
The practice offers custom-fitted, noninvasive oral appliances like the EMA® (Elastic Mandibular Advancement) oral appliance or DynaFlex® Dorsal Appliance. These treatments help you control teeth grinding at night. They could also recommend a customized mouthguard.
Your provider could encourage Botox® injections, which relax your TMJ muscles and ease painful TMD symptoms.
Treatments like Invisalign®, crowns, bridges, and braces can align your bite and prevent tooth deterioration, cracking, or other severe dental problems that TMD can cause.
Other treatments include ultrasound, which applies intense, healing heat to your joints, and trigger-point injections, which inject pain medication or an anesthetic into joints to provide relief.
If you want to learn more about TMJ and TMD innovative treatments, contact Montrose Dental Specialty online or call the office.