TMJ problems are one of the most perplexing dental problems that many people face. Many people with TMJ problems go to multiple doctors and dental offices, to figure out what is causing the pain and how to best treat it. The reason TMJ is so painful and irritating to the patient is that the TMJ sits right behind a major nerve in the face. Hence, when having pain here - can possibly feel it all across the face, jaw, eyes, and mouth. As we will discuss, more women than men are affected by TMJ problems. TMJ can be caused by arthritis, inflammation, a jaw accident, or many other things.
We will be discussing TMD and TMJ in this Dentist TMJ Blog article. We will be discussing what is TMD and TMJ, as well as discussing ways of treating these disorders of the jaw. At Just Dental - we do get many different types of local dental questions online from all over. One of the dental topics many people have Online Dentist Questions or have a Local Dentist Question about TMJ - and more specifically, what should I do about my TMJ pain? The thing to keep in mind with TMD and TMJ pain or symptoms is that - it is treatable, though for some people it may not be curable. Treating TMJ can be tricky and not easy to do - as there may be multiple factors causing a person to have TMJ. Some of these factors such as stress and anxiety can be hard to control for many people. Some people with TMJ will say they have gone to over a half dozen doctors and dentists, and still, they have not found something to help with their TMJ pain. First, it is good to understand what is TMJ Disorder and then try to take the right steps to help treat it.
TMJ Blogging - Tele TMJ Pain Question Ask Dentists, TMD Teledentistry:
Many of the people having TMJ or TMD pain, may go to many dental offices or oral surgeon practices to ask TMJ Questions about how to stop the TMJ pain? These patients want to know, how can they stop the aching TMJ pain going on in their jaw? Many times, your dentist will ask - are you overusing the TMJ or do you have some kind of inflammation going on around the joint area of the jaw hinge? As we will be discussing, the TMJ is a joint that connects the top and bottom jaw area. As a joint, it can be damaged - say from improper use or from some sort of accident. As we will discuss, people can now use dental telemedicine or ask tele dental TMJ problem questions online using TMJ Teledentistry Consultation Chat to discuss with dentists online virtually. Having live virtual TMJ dentist consulting with dentists to get dental TMJ information online.
TMJ Question and TMD Answer Online - can TMJ pain go away on its own?
For some people, it is yes. By relaxing the joint area, gently massaging, and doing the right exercises - and maybe wearing a nightguard, the TMJ pain may subside. Of course, this is not always the case.
Let's try to discuss TMD - TMJ disorder in a simple way. TMJ is like a ball and socket hinge that is located towards the back of the jaw (close to the ear area). TMJ are joints that connect the jaw to the skull. There are 2 TMJ areas in the body. One on the right side and the other on the left side of the face & skull. These 2 work in tandem when one is speaking or chewing food. So, if one side is having an issue, then the other side can be thrown off balance. This can cause a person to start having pain. TMD and TMJ are used by many interchangeably. TMD is more a complex array of temporomandibular issues including the bone, joints, muscles, etc. - while TMJ disorder is more specific to the joint itself.
Can ask us TMJ Treatment Questions or a TMD Question Online at Just Dental.
Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) and Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ) thankfully do not affect a large percentage of people. Still, some 10 million people by some estimates in the US have this condition. The people that have TMD or TMJ conditions, it can result in quite a bit of pain and soreness of the jaw. Many people with TMJ will say they feel clicking when chewing or when they are moving their jaw. Simple jaw movement activity such as yawning can cause people with TMJ disorder to experience a good amount of pain. Treating TMJ disorder in a non-surgical way may require several things to be addressed. The person may need to evaluate their diet and may need to adjust their lifestyle to be less stressful. We will discuss this further in this TMJ Dental Blog.
Women TMJ Problem Question - Are women more likely to have TMJ Disorder problems than men?
The simple answer to that is yes. By some estimates and studies done on TMJ, over 80% of people affected with TMJ pain are women. The reasons or why this is not completely understood - but researchers believe that women's hormonal changes, not having enough nutrients in the body (maybe excess dieting?) or some women may be having increased levels of stress & anxiety. Of course, both men and women have stress and anxiety. Having a healthy diet is important and understanding the hormonal changes in the body is another. Women have been shown to be more prone to eating disorders such as bulimia - with some studies showing bulimia in women happens much more frequently (something like a 9 to 1 women to men ratio). Eating disorders can affect a person's overall health - even in the mouth. Anorexia has been shown to be much more prevalent in women than men. People with anorexia have been shown to have a much higher likelihood of having halitosis (bad breath), much more hypotension and tension of the muscles in the body. This tension, maybe one of the causes possibly of TMJ? Having a good diet, understanding the hormonal changes, and trying to keep anxiety to a minimum may be a good way of trying to reduce TMJ for some people.
Treating TMD and TMJ Disorders can be challenging - as there may be multiple factors causing this issue. Having a good understanding of the personal diet and the daily activities that they participate in. This can include heavy weight lifting, rigid sports or if they have a very stressful job can all be part of the reason the person is having TMJ pain. Some doctors may prescribe some medications such as muscle relaxants such as diazepam (valium) or pain medications such as stronger forms of ibuprofen to help with the pain. Here are three ways doctors use to treat TMD Disorder / TMJ Disorder in a non-surgical way.
(1) Counseling - trying to use various methods of relaxing the patient and controlling the amount of stress & anxiety.
(2) Medications such as pain relievers and muscle relaxants.
(3) Using various oral appliances such as mouth guard or various oral splints.
If at all possible, it is best to try to treat TMD - TMJ Disorders with a non-surgical approach.
If at all possible, most doctors try to stay away from doing surgery to relieve the TMJ disorder - trying their best to try various non-surgical alternatives. For some people though, they have tried many of the non-surgical TMJ Treatments to no avail These people still have very bad pain in the TMJ area - and see no option other than trying a surgical TMJ Treatment approach.
Before doing TMJ surgery - first, your doctor may use various advanced imaging such as MRI & CT scans. TMJ surgical procedures include TMJ arthroscopy to better understand & diagnosis the TMJ disorder. When doing TMJ arthroscopy, the doctor will insert a small thin tube (cannula) into the joint space with a small camera (arthroscope) to better see what is going on - and then use small surgical instruments to complete the process of treatment. This arthroscopy can be somewhat limited, though preferred by some doctors because it is a less invasive form of surgery. A more extensive form of TMD Surgery / TMJ Surgery is an open-joint surgery (arthrotomy), which is to repair or replace the joint. However, the open-joint surgery process & treatment, does involve more risks since it is more invasive.
As we have discussed many people have TMJ problems and are looking for local TMJ answers - whether online or in the office. People can do online virtual TMJ dentistry consultation or local TMJ teledentistry online with us at Just Dental. With us, can dentists chat online about TMJ problem questions online with us.
Summary: TMJ Pain Blog, TMD Problem Chat and Teledentistry TMJ Question Consulting.
TMJ can be very painful and hard to treat. We get many online dentist TMJ questions and people seeking TMJ problem treatment solutions. There are various ways of treating TMJ and TMD pain. We have discussed TMJ Pain online treatment and Non-surgical TMJ Treatmentment Chat on here. We will be discussing this further in other dental blogs at Just Dental.
Here is another dental blog at Just Dental.com that might interest you. Tooth Pain Chat Online and Discussing causes of Teeth Pain. Just Dental is looking to help people with their local dental problem questions. We are discussing tooth pain and teeth problem questions online - here is the link https://just-dental.com/tooth-pain-chatting-and-tooth-decay-chat