TMJ Treatment – Dublin, OH

Managing Stress to Help Your Jaw Rest

You may spend most of your life unaware of the important little triangular-shaped joints located in front of your ears. Lined with cartilage, these joints move with a smooth, gliding motion. Under normal conditions, they join your lower jaw and temporal bone, allowing your mouth to open and close easily. However, stress or an improper bite can cause dysfunction in the joints, exposing nerve endings within the joint to create pain.

In fact, the temporomandibular joint is highly sensitive to overall physical, emotional, and psychological stress. It is affected by the mechanics of your bite and the condition of your jaw muscles. A little extra stress, a little extra fatigue, a little change in your bite, and you may temporarily knock the whole system out of balance. Without harmony between the joints, muscles, and teeth, the result can be a TMJ disorder, or TMD, which creates a variety of mild to severe symptoms, from jaw clicking and minor discomfort to headaches and sharp pain in your temple, ear, neck, and shoulders. there are options to address this concern, so keep reading to learn more about TMJ treatment in Dublin, OH. 

Why Choose Distinctive Smiles of Dublin for TMJ Treatment?

  • Custom-Made Occlusal Splints
  • Excellent Customer Service
  • State-of-the-Art Technology

Diagnosis & Treatment

The condition is very common in our culture, so we evaluate patients for TMJ dysfunction at their regular dental exam. If we detect a problem, our goals are to arrest it, protect teeth from further damage, and correct underlying bite misalignment.

Typically, TMJ patients need to avoid chewing gum or hard, chewy food, take small bites, and alternate chewing between both sides of the mouth. Good nutrition will help the joint heal more quickly; good posture will also help relieve discomfort. A straight back and relaxed neck are also helpful. To relieve soreness, a light temple and jaw massage will stimulate circulation and relax the muscles. If pain is present, we suggest alternating moist heat and cold for 20 minutes to further increase circulation. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatories or analgesics can be very helpful as well. But ultimately, patients with chronic TMJ problems should contact us for an evaluation so we can help relieve those symptoms.

Equilibration/ Occlusal Adjustments

Therapy may involve balancing or equilibrating your bite or occlusion of the teeth, fitting you with a physiologic bite appliance, suggesting ways to alleviate stress, and recommending symptom relief measures.

Occlusal Splints

TMJ disorder is often linked to bruxism, so to protect your teeth and jaw from grinding and clenching, we can give you an oral appliance called an occlusal splint. It will keep the upper and lower rows of teeth separated to reduce TMJ-related pain. Some occlusal splints are also made to move the lower jaw slightly forward to improve its resting position. This helps take some of the pressure off the jaw joints while they’re at rest, allowing them to recover.

TMJ Treatment FAQs

As long as you undergo TMJ treatment from a qualified professional, then the process should be entirely safe for you. In most cases, it’s highly recommended to seek minimally invasive and conservative methods first for treating TMJ disorders before going for surgical treatments. Our team will discuss in detail some of the different options for addressing your situation before suggesting more invasive methods, which can often come with certain risks. Overall, you can be sure that we’ll prioritize your comfort while working on treating your TMJ dysfunction.

In many cases, any discomfort associated with a TMJ disorder can go away by itself after some time. That said, if you notice that any of your symptoms are negatively affecting your daily life, you should probably get in touch with a professional to seek treatment. There might be some solutions that can only give you temporary alleviation, while other methods, like oral appliances and surgical procedures, are designed for longer-lasting relief and change. Be sure to contact our team so that we can evaluate your situation and determine the appropriate solution for addressing your TMD so that you can regain a more comfortable smile.

Similar to the variety of dental issues and the cost of their treatments, TMJ can be treated in different ways that come at varying price points. In most instances, the more extensive your process is, the higher the cost of the treatment. For example, getting an injection will certainly cost less compared to undergoing surgery. Additionally, the specific method for addressing your TMJ disorder will depend on the root cause of the issue, the severity of your situation, and other factors—each of which will impact the overall cost.

Some dental insurance companies may offer coverage for TMJ treatment, but you’ll have to verify with your specific provider so that you know the details of your policy. Our team is also proud to offer financial options like our in-house membership plan for significant discounts and CareCredit for monthly, little-to-no-interest financing. Remember that while TMJ treatment might come with a high price, the relief it provides can be everything!

Of course! The National Institute of Health highly recommends that professionals use more conservative solutions first for addressing TMJ disorders. Oftentimes, when treating TMD, less is more. The only reason surgery would be suggested is as a last resort, as the procedure will make irreversible alterations to the jaw and surrounding anatomy. In most cases, TMD can be addressed with less invasive methods, such as equilibration/occlusal adjustments and occlusal splints. We might even suggest other at-home remedies to treat your situation, like eating soft foods, stress relief, and using ice packs.

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