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

Woman with jaw pain before T M J 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

Skull model used to explain equilibration and 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

Dentist fitting custom occlusal splint to smile model

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.

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