Do you suffer from the following symptoms??
- Headaches and migraines
- Facial muscle pain and weakness / fatigue
- Numbness or tingling in the fingers
- Cold hands and feet
- Neck pain
- Chronic back pain / postural issues
- Clicking or popping in the joint / limited opening / difficulty closing
- Shifting on your joint when you open or close your mouth
- Teeth grinding/clenching/ pain in the teeth with no detectable dental cause
- Difficulty opening wide
- Ear ache and stuffiness
- Tinnitus / dizziness / vertigo
The term ‘TMD’ is the term used in dentistry for a serious and painful degenerative jaw joint condition. Other names are:
TMJ syndrome, Temporomandibular joint pain- dysfunction syndrome.
The initials stand for the temperomandibular joint, the anatomical name for the jaw joint in front of the ear where the lower jaw attaches to the base of the scull.
I see patients on a daily basis that suffer from symptoms of the jaw, head and entire body that can be associated with the TMJ. Incorrect working of the jaw joints (TM Joint), and the way the teeth fit together, can lead to all different symptoms as above.
Diagnosis consists of:
- Full examination of the head, teeth and joints
- Working study models of the teeth and bite
- Joint Vibration Analysis
- T Scan analysis
The treatment consist of Bite Splint Therapy. This is a precise process where a carefully constructed appliance, made of plastic, is fitted onto the lower teeth. This is sympathetic to the function of the lower jaw and joint. It is usually worn fulltime.
At the end of the Splint Therapy, when you are free of symptoms and signs, I would then reassess your circumstances and your bite relationship. It will then be apparent whether we need to take you forward into a process of bite adjustment, equilibration or whether we should consider restorative dentistry to provide a proper biting relationship to keep the jaw joints healthy and working properly in the correct relationships. Orthodontic correction of the bite with functional orthodontics may be indicated.
