TMJ (JAW JOINT) Treatment

Is Neuromuscular Dentistry (NMD) for you? Beyond the appearance of your smile. The way that your upper and lower teeth come together (your bite or occlusion) is part of a system of teeth, muscles and joints. If your teeth do not fit together properly (misaligned bite), the muscles and joints accommodate – work to get them together.

A misaligned bite often leads to muscles that are overworked when they should be relaxed, leading to various painful conditions. Neuromuscular dentistry considers the entire system that controls the positioning and function of your jaw. The neuromuscular dentist seeks to establish a jaw position based on a harmonious relationship of the three main factors affecting occlusion – the teeth, muscles and jaw joints. The resulting jaw position is called the neuromuscular bite.

Your dentist may be considering various types of dental treatment to improve your smile, to correct a misaligned bite or relieve a painful condition. To provide you with an optimum bite that gives you a beautiful smile as well as healthy muscles and joints, your dentist will evaluate and study the complex relationship between your teeth, jaw joints and muscles. Your dentist will then apply neuromuscular principles to build your bite.

NMD begins by relaxing the muscles around the jaw with the use of a TENS device (Myomonitor.) The Myomonitor is a battery operated electrical stimulus to the muscles of the facial/jaw area, and possibly the neck and shoulder are, to "exercise" these muscles and to cause them to relax.

Once the dentist has determined where your new bite should be, you will be given a plastic appliance called and orthotic to keep your bite in it's new position.

ORTHOTICS

One effective way to treat TMJ is through the use of dental orthotics. An orthotic device is a custom-made dental appliance to help achieve the proper bite alignment after you have been diagnosed with TMD. These comfortable and unobtrusive dental orthotic appliances are worn by the patient according to the neuromuscular dentist's specifications.

There are different goals of dental orthotics, including:

• To protect the teeth from nighttime tooth grinding
• To help reposition the jaw joint to its proper location
• To allow the jaw and face muscles to fully relax
• To realign the patient's bite to its optimal position

Some patients will need to wear a dental orthotic appliance only in the evenings while others may require that the splint be worn all day and night to help achieve the correct bite. Many patients experience almost immediate relief from certain TMJ symptoms, such as severe headaches, while wearing the device.

Bite rehabilitation

After having worn the orthotic for some time, both you and your dentist will know for sure if the new bite position resolved your problems. If it has, you will have several options available to you for long term treatment. One of the treatment options are to build your bite to the new position by crowning your teeth.