If you have a popping or clicking sensation in your jaw or chronic headaches, this could be due to a serious jaw joint disorder. TMJ disorder, or TMD, requires treatment to protect your smile from worsening pain or damaged teeth. In today’s blog, your Grand Prairie, TX, dentist talks about how we diagnose and treat TMJ disorder.
The Causes of TMD
What causes TMJ disorder? Often, this is due to factors that upset your overall bite balance, such as missing teeth, dental misalignment, injury to the face or jaw, or complications with the growth of your smile or the eruption of your teeth. The arrival of wisdom teeth could be a factor, as could bruxism, in which you grind your teeth regularly at night, straining your jaw joints. When the joints undergo pressure from these factors, this can upset how you open and close your mouth, and cause major discomfort too.
Possible Warning Signs and Complications
You may endure a popping or crackling sensation in your smile, persistent headaches or migraines, or even pain in the face and jaw. There could be aches in the neck and shoulders too, and if you grind your teeth, painful toothaches and tooth sensitivity could occur as teeth are worn down and cracked or chipped. Down the road, this could increase the risk of tooth decay, infection, and more. Don’t ignore these possible warning signs, contact our team to talk about possible solutions!
Oral Appliance Therapy
We will start with a diagnosis, in which we use advanced digital imaging systems to assess the cause and extent of your strain. We can then offer treatment. For some, we could discuss orthodontics to correct misalignment and ease strain on your jaw joints. Our team could replace missing teeth with dental prosthetics, like bridges or even dental implants. To improve balance, we could discuss placing custom crowns or even using dental bonding to reshape teeth as needed.
But for many, the optimal solution is an oral appliance. The device will look and fit like a mouthguard, but this device has been custom-made for you based on detailed digital images and measurements taken of your bite. When worn, the device actually repositions the jaw to ease pressure and bring relief. This is worn as you sleep and will be easy to use and clean, and can travel with you too. If you also grind your teeth, this places a barrier between your upper and lower sets of teeth to prevent further damage or bruxism. Our team can of course repair any damage that has occurred with crowns or dental bonding.
If you have any questions about how we diagnose and treat TMJ disorder, or if you have jaw pain or headaches that need attention, then contact our team.
Schedule a Visit to Learn More About Our Preventive Treatments
We want to help you enjoy better oral health and a comfortable smile! For more information on improving jaw joint strain, then schedule an appointment with Dr. Smith and our team by calling Pecan Tree Dental in Grand Prairie, TX, today at (972) 262-5111.
