Do you have a hard time chewing your food? Or does it hurt when you open your mouth to yawn or speak? If so, you may be suffering from a joint disease known as temporomandibular disorder (or TMD). Your dentist in Toronto can confirm this condition through a detailed exam and x-rays as well as recommend treatment options.
Possible Causes of TMD
While the real cause of TMD may not yet be fully understood, the following factors are known to contribute to the condition:
- Stress: Emotional stress can lead to unintentional teeth clenching and tightening of muscles around the jaws. Prolonged muscle tension can eventually lead to pain in the area.
- Clenching or grinding teeth: These actions are accompanied by tightening of the jaw muscles, which if done often or habitually, can cause muscle pain.
- Trauma or injury to the face or jaws: A fractured jaw or jaw joint can lead to a misalignment of the jaw so you may feel pain when you move your mouth.
- Joint diseases: such as rheumatoid arthritis can affect the jaw joints and muscles causing pain with movement.
- Incorrect jaw growth: which causes misaligned teeth can also make it difficult to bite and chew and lead to TMD.
- Other factors: Worn or missing teeth, gum disease, ill-fitting dentures and biting hard objects may also lead to TMD.
Signs and symptoms
Pain and discomfort in the jaw area are the most obvious symptoms of TMD, as well as the following:
- Sore jaw muscles that are more severe when you wake up, clench your teeth, chew your food or yawn.
- Difficulty in opening and closing your mouth, in some cases you may experience a locked jaw
- Unexplained headaches and pain in your neck.
- Clicking or popping noise when you open your mouth, chew or yawn.
Treatment
Because other conditions exhibit similar symptoms, it is best to visit your dentist in Toronto who can make a correct diagnosis of your problem. Your dentist will make a thorough examination of your history and mouth to determine the cause of your symptoms.
Depending on the findings of your dentist, the following treatment options for TMD may be recommended:
- Referral to a specialist like an orthodontist to correct teeth alignment problems or a physiotherapist, chiropractor or behavioral therapist who can help ease muscle pain.
- Take pain or anti-inflammatory medicine to manage pain or relax muscles
- Wear a night guard or bite plate which prevents you from biting against your teeth. This also helps your jaw joints and muscles to relax.
- Referral to oral surgeon when none of the treatments work and you find it very difficult to open your jaw.
Canadians can be safe in the knowledge that their professional dentist in Toronto has the knowledge and experience to manage TMD.
