Do you get constant headaches and neck pain? Do you have troubled sleep, snore or grind your teeth at night? Do your jaws click, pop or cause you pain? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you could be suffering from Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) disorder.
What is Temporomandibular Joint disorder?
Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD), or more commonly known as jaw joint pain, is pain that is primarily attributed to the joint space connecting your mandible (lower jaw) to your skull. Like a knee joint, a jaw joint contains a cartilage disk that separates the two bones. This disk is protected by a capsule which is surrounded by ligaments and muscles that aids its movements. Often, from trauma or everyday wear and tear, the jaw joint becomes susceptible to damage which eventually results in the development of pain
So, what can I do to treat TMD?
There are numerous services and appliances that can be provided to manage and ultimately reduce the severity of the pain caused from the TMD. These range from temporary solutions such as Botox injections as a muscle relaxant to more permanent treatment such as the use of orthotics in combination with restorative and orthodontic options. A full evaluation and precise assessment is required to identify the cause of the pain before any treatment begins.
Book an appointment today with Dr Gavin Yang who will be able to assess and plan the best treatment to help you out of pain and ultimately improve your quality of life.
Nightguard
With a hectic lifestyle, we know how stressful you can be. This can be associated with involuntary grinding and clenching at night. These situations are difficult to prevent as most of the time you are unaware of its existence. The end product of these undesired bad habits is muscle pain around the cheek area, headaches, loss of tooth structure, increased sensitivity, and sometimes cracked tooth syndrome. Our dentists are expert in picking up the signs and would advise custom made night guards to help you maintain your smile and relieve tension in the joint and muscle.