TMJ Disorder: Key Information And What You Can Do

Jul 1
08:24

2011

Abraham Avotina

Abraham Avotina

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

The signs and symptoms of TMJ disorder are diverse and what you can do to help yourself includes a regime of self care and dental options.

mediaimage
When you initially consult with your dentist about your symptoms,TMJ Disorder: Key Information And What You Can Do Articles they will likely diagnose your disorder based on x-rays, a CT scan or a MRI and they will work with you to create a treatment plan that includes a self care regime as well as a dental regime.

The signs and symptoms of TMJ can be as diverse as the people who suffer with it. TMJ can last for weeks or months and then disappear on its own or it can last a short time and respond to some self treatment options. For some patients the disorder can have a huge impact on their lives and altering how they live their lives and for other patients it is just an occasional painful reminder not to yawn to big.

The symptoms of this disorder include pain or discomfort when chewing or opening or closing your mouth to talk to yawn, or even difficulty speaking. Every patient is different and the symptoms can present on a wide spectrum scale for everyone. What is common for everyone however is the experience of high levels of discomfort or pain that creates an impact to one degree or another on their lives.

Some patients find that they can’t work or attend school because of the pain, while other patients feel the impact of the disorder on the quality of their lives but are able to maintain their job or school status.

There are several self help treatments that patients can try if their lives are impacted by TMJ disorder including some lifestyle changes. Eating soft foods that don’t require extensive chewing can help. For example patients can forgo the steak and opt for a softer food instead. Give up gum chewing if you are a gum chewer and try to minimize the amount of large jaw movements you make doing other things such as yawning.

Ice packs may help relieve some of the pain and discomfort as well as over the counter medication. If your pain levels are to high, talk to your dentist about prescription pain relievers and see if that helps alleviate the pain level to a more durable or comfortable level.

The National Institute of Health recommends that patients avoid any treatments that are permanent and irreversible such grinding down teeth to bring a bite into balance, using orthodontics to change the bite or putting in crowns or bridgework to bring the bite into balance.

The NIH also does not support surgery to correct this disorder since there is currently no strong supporting evidence or long term studies in place that demonstrate such invasive measures are effective. Replacement of the jaw joints should only be considered in the most severe cases and only as a last resort to help correct your jaw movements. Surgery won’t reduce your pain levels and has been shown in most cases to increase the pain levels.
Talk to your dentist about your TMJ and work with them to alleviate your symptoms until the TMJ is gone.

Article "tagged" as:

Categories: