How TMJ Disorder Can Affect Your Health

TMD or TMJ disorder is a condition that many dental patients have in some form. TMJ issues are often characterized by clicking and popping in jaw joints, and are the cause of bruxism, or teeth grinding. While it’s common, not many patients understand how TMD can have a negative effect on your health and wellness, requiring that it be treated as soon as possible to prevent other dental problems. TMJ issues can create:

Damage to Teeth

The night-time teeth grinding (bruxism) that comes with TMD can present significant problems for your teeth. All of that extra stress wears down dental enamel quickly. This can eventually affect biting and chewing, as well as the overall appearance of your smile. Teeth that have been ground down by bruxism have to be restored by your dentist with a dental crown, which can be costly. However, when caught early, a mouth guard can be used to prevent damage to teeth.

Stress on Jaw Joints

Involuntary jaw clenching and the pressure of persistently grinding teeth means that the joints and muscles connecting both jaw arches are working overtime. This can produce tightness and soreness in your jaw. Clenching and grinding is also the cause of the clicking and popping sounds that many patients with TMD hear when they move their jaw, chew, or open their mouths to take a bite of food.

Aches and Pains

Unfortunately, jaw pain does not remain localized. Soreness or discomfort in jaw joints can radiate outward to cause neck and shoulder pain, with the persistent stress on teeth and muscles also producing more and frequent headaches for TMD patients. Some patients also experience a sense of ringing in their ears as symptoms progress.

TMJ Therapy

Often, the best way to treatment TMJ issues is to establish a healthy bite by obtaining a protective oral appliance from your dentist. Improved occlusion helps properly distribute stress on joints and a mouth guard protects teeth from the effects of night-time grinding.  Dr. Jeff Colquitt at our Dallas dental office helps patients find relief from TMJ pain, restores teeth, and builds healthy bite alignment. Please call our team for more information about side-effects of TMD and how we can help treat them.