Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD) – Its Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

by Allen Rose Doctor

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is like a sliding hinge that connects your jaw to the temporal bones of your skull. These bones are present in front of each ear. This helps you in moving your jaw up and down, side to side that lets you speak, chew and yawn. It is one of the most complex joint and is located at the base of the skull.

If you experience a constant pain in the area near your ear, jaw or face muscles that results in restricted jaw movement, you might be having a TMJ disorder. This disorder causes pain and dysfunction of the TMJ and the muscles surrounding it. This is common among people lying between 20 to 40 years of age. Most of the disorders get resolved themselves with some conservative remedies that can be recommended by your dentist to be done at home. It is important to try some of the reversible remedies first rather than going for the irreversible ones such as surgery or bridgework.

Symptoms of Temporomandibular disorder (TMD):

Temporomandibular disorder causes a lot of discomfort and severe pain. This situation could be temporary or may last for many years. Its symptoms include:

· Pain or tenderness in your jaw joint area, face, neck and shoulders when you speak or chew

· Pain in and around your ear

· Pain in the temporomandibular joints

· When jaws get stuck or locked

· Facial pain or your face feels tired

· Swelling on the side muscles of your face

· Trouble in chewing as if the upper and lower jaws are not fitting together properly

Causes of Temporomandibular disorder (TMD):

This disorder can be caused due to orthopedic problems such as sore muscles, inflammation, strained tendons and ligaments and disk problems. Other factors that influence it are genes, age and gender (as women are more prone to have it). The major causes of TMD are listed below:

· Physical injury

· Dental surgery

· Arthritis

· Autoimmune diseases

· Infections

· Teeth grinding while sleeping

It can also be caused due to various other factors including genetic, hormonal and environmental. For example: it is noticed that people who play violin suffer from this disorder at a higher rate than the ordinary people as the instrument is held under the jaw. Also women suffer from this at a higher rate than men due to some hormonal causes.

Risk factors of Temporomandibular disorder (TMD):

There are various factors that increase the risk of developing TMD such as:

· Many types of arthritis including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis

· Certain connected tissues diseases that affect the joint

Treatment of Temporomandibular disorder (TMD):

With self-care and adopting some changes in lifestyle

Most of the TMD cases can be successfully treated at home. Reducing the movement of the jaw to give some rest to the joint is recommended. This includes:

· Eat only soft foods

· Avoid chewing gums

· Avoid compressing or clenching the jaw

Some gentle exercises may also be recommended by your doctor such as massaging the affected muscles around the jaw. Applying ice or moist heat on the affected area can also help.

Surgery

In more intense cases, where the jaw movement gets restricted or the patient experience severe pain, surgery is the most effective treatment. The symptoms that are long lasting may also require the joint to be replaced; however it is very rarely needed.

If you are suffering from TMJ disorder, then visit Snellville Family Dental, a renowned dental office in Snellville GA. They have one of the best TMJ treatment Snellville teams that are adept to provide the treatment based on the patient’s condition.

Before the condition gets worse, seek professional advice.