TMJ/Headaches
Are you challenged with headaches and jaw pain?
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, an improper bite can cause the joints to dysfunction, placing pressure on nerve endings to create pain in your jaw and head. In fact, the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) 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. The resulting TMJ disorder, or TMD, can create a variety of mild to severe symptoms, from jaw clicking and minor discomfort to sharp pain in your temple, ear, neck, and shoulders. TMD is the leading cause of headaches including migraines. Other symptoms can include dizziness, stomach reflux, and ear ringing.
The condition is very common in our culture, so we evaluate every patient for TMJ dysfunction at their regular dental exam. If we detect a problem, our goals are to reduce or eliminate your symptoms, protect your teeth and TMJ from further damage, and correct underlying bite misalignment. We are confident we can succeed together in helping you eliminate any pain caused by TMD.
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, an improper bite can cause the joints to dysfunction, placing pressure on nerve endings to create pain in your jaw and head. In fact, the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) 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. The resulting TMJ disorder, or TMD, can create a variety of mild to severe symptoms, from jaw clicking and minor discomfort to sharp pain in your temple, ear, neck, and shoulders. TMD is the leading cause of headaches including migraines. Other symptoms can include dizziness, stomach reflux, and ear ringing.
The condition is very common in our culture, so we evaluate every patient for TMJ dysfunction at their regular dental exam. If we detect a problem, our goals are to reduce or eliminate your symptoms, protect your teeth and TMJ from further damage, and correct underlying bite misalignment. We are confident we can succeed together in helping you eliminate any pain caused by TMD.
