The temporomandibular joint has a hinge where your jaw is attached, and a slide to allow it to move back and forth and open your mouth. The round ends of the lower jaw (condyles) slide along sockets in the temporal bone. This action, in combination with muscles that help with chewing and other joint movements, are cushioned by a soft disc that lessens the hard impact of bones moving.
At one time, misaligned upper and lower teeth were suspected to be the cause of TMJ. This dental malocclusion would cause dentists to use braces to try to realign how the jaw would move. But the lack of results from this treatment soon led it to be discarded.
Researchers today believe TMJ can be traced to a combination of malfunctions, including environmental factors, emotional disturbances, bad behavior, cognitive issues and social pressures, all or some combining to produce TMJ symptoms. These are believed to impact how the jaw works and may be linked to infections, arthritis, inflammation, misalignment of the soft disc in the jaw and loose connections in the bone structure. When two or more happen at one, TMJ is believed to occur.
The Cure Is Elusive
While the pain is real, the cures for it often are not. There actually is no cure for TMJ, only treatments that might relieve the condition. Fortunately, most of the symptoms seem to come and go for patients, and in many cases will disappear as mysteriously as they arrived.
There is much debate about the causes of TMJ. Injury can cause pain in the jaw region, but more often it appears out of nowhere, leading the patient to suspect that something terrible is going on inside their head. No, TMJ is not a harbinger of serious illness. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that figuring out what to do is often a complex, time-consuming series of visits to a doctor or dentist, involving tests, tests and more tests. In the United States, about three-fourths of Americans may experience TMJ or some of its symptoms at some point in their lives, most for a minor period. Of those, up to ten percent may have headaches, pain, or ringing in the ears so debilitating that they need to visit a doctor. That’s when things can get expensive.
Help for Your TMJ
If you need to visit a doctor for TMJ issues, the first order of business will be an extensive physical examination and a discussion about your behaviors. Because the most common issue for TMJ sufferers is pain, the doctor likely will prescribe medication to ease it.
Unfortunately, some people can’t take pain medication. They may have an issue with prior drug or alcohol addiction and are worried that they will relapse if exposed to even small amounts of medication. Or they may harbor religious objections or social issues that prohibit the use of medication. That leaves them with other choices.
Here are three potential non-drug treatments that may help TMJ:
1) Mouth Guards and Alignment – Because TMJ causes pain in and around the mouth, ear or side of the head (sometimes radiating to the back of the head or the neck), medical professionals treating you may suspect it has to do with the alignment of your jaw or teeth. That means you may be a candidate for a night mouth guard, which will stop you from grinding your teeth and lessen pressure on your jaw. They also may try periodontal braces that will attempt to align teeth that seem out of whack in your mouth. The hope is that restoring the balance in your mouth will alleviate the pain that seems to emanate from problems in the area. They likely will advise you to try a soft diet for at least a while, sticking to soups, purees and other foods that don’t require major chewing before swallowing. They will also discourage nervous habits like chewing gum or biting on a pencil or other hard object because these irritate the teeth and affected area.
2) Stress Relief, Mental Focus and Physical Therapy – If your medical professional believes that part of your TMJ issue is stress, he or she will recommend relaxation techniques that will lower anxiety levels. These can include regular meditation, biofeedback, acupuncture, hypnosis, light yoga or simply sitting quietly in a chair for a certain period each day and avoiding stress. They may also suggest that you alter your sleeping habits so that pressure isn’t placed on the jaw area, avoid playing musical instruments that require a tight lip and tongue position on a mouthpiece, and perhaps some physical therapy or chiropractic intervention that will make sure your body is in alignment.
3) Surgery and Scans – If pain relief isn’t arriving from a reduction in stress and avoiding things that may aggravate your condition, doctors may suspect that something may require a closer look. They will request an MRI or CT scan to take a closer look at what’s happening inside the jaw and to see if any loose particles or other debris may be clogging the jaw path. Sometimes this can require surgery to remove the debris; other times, diathermy or ultrasound treatments may help. Surgery is considered only as a final option and typically is only recommended when the doctors discover some congenital malfunction. Reshaping the jaw is a complicated procedure, but in some cases, it’s required because the pieces aren’t working well together.
Of course, like posture may affect the back, so, too, may your habits cause jaw stress. If you chew foods vigorously or laugh a little too broadly, you may stress the jaw area. You may even be opening your mouth a little too wide to shout at an athletic competition or to fellow workers in the field. Obviously, these require a bit of stress in the area, which may cause your TMJ problem.
Here’s hoping you are in the vast majority of TMJ sufferers (most of them women, oddly) whose symptoms vanish as mysteriously as they arrived. With a few modifications in habits that may cause your issue and deploying some tricks like night guards to prevent grinding, it’s likely that you will be among the happy people whose TMJ becomes just a memory.