Causes & Symptoms
Incidence is higher in women than men, although not strikingly. Whilst age brings certain causes such as arthritis, cases in middle age are higher.
Interference can come from a mild condition, called temporomandibular joint dysfunction, which often improves with rest and lifestyle changes. TMJ treatment may still be required, depending on natural progress.
A range of conditions can be more serious. Dislocation, or other abnormal relationships between the disc and articular surfaces are common, which can be due to tooth grinding, or clenching, or overloading your jaw muscles.
External trauma, including fractures can reduce the joint’s function. Inflammation can arise from medical conditions, or be related to arthritis. That could be a form which develops quickly and leaves deposits on joints, or conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, or degenerative osteoarthritis.
TMJ disorder is likely to be unpleasant, with pain in the muscles, jaw joint, face, or neck. Jaw stiffness, or restricted movement, clicking, or popping sounds are symptomatic, more rarely joint swelling.
Although natural misalignment is not usually a root cause, how your upper and lower teeth come together can change due to joint dysfunction. Headaches, hearing loss, or tinnitus are other common side effects.
The causes of temporomandibular joint problems can be multi-factorial. Accurate assessment is critical for successful treatment to eliminate symptoms.
Professional Diagnosis
A maxillofacial consultant will carry out a detailed oral examination. Panoramic x-rays, or other specialist imaging techniques may help, to define the detail of your jaw, joints and surrounding soft tissues.
Your medical history, perhaps family medical history could be discussed, genetic factors can have a relationship with TMJ disorder.
Issues such as mouth sores, gum disease, sinus function, or unexplained toothache should be investigated. As should previous trauma to the face, or jaw, including biting hard, or unusually wide mouth opening.
Your jaw joints and nearby areas can be examined for pain, clicking, popping, or grating, your bite and facial muscle function analysed.
Jaw problems can create stress, tension, headaches, or pain which transfers into your shoulders. Each are symptoms which deserve investigation in their own right and are quite common in relation to TMJ disorders.
For such a vital function, examining multiple potential causes will help to ensure that decisions on treatment are the right ones for you.
A Range Of Treatment
Your examination, imaging if carried out and your consultant’s experience help to create a precise treatment plan. The ethos of our clinic is to minimise surgery, we tend to manage TMJ symptoms conservatively.
Relaxation techniques can assist, dietary changes, or jaw joint physiotherapy. Stopping jaw clenching, grinding, or nail biting can address the problem. A clear plastic splint is available to fit over your teeth, worn at night, to support the temporomandibular joints and decrease grinding.
A procedure called occlusal equilibration can be used, gentle reshaping of the biting surfaces of individual teeth, to create a more even bite. Other dental work can achieve bite balance, such as replacing missing teeth.
Antidepressant medication may assist, not simply because psychological factors could be involved, the medication has a muscle relaxing and pain killing effect.
Surgery is available but only suits a proportion of cases. The surgery can simply be steroid injections into the joint, washing the joint out with sterile fluid, eliminating tissue adhesion, or dislodging a stuck cartilage disc.
Significant open joint surgery is rarer. Only likely if bones within the jaw joint are notably deteriorating, a tumour is found to be a cause, or severe scarring, or bone chips lay inside the joint.
Surgery can include replacing the joint with a modern implant, to be considered where damage, injury, arthritis, infection, or pain can not be solved in other ways.
Your consultant will advise on procedure if significant surgery is needed and discuss this thoroughly. Even in expert hands, open joint surgery brings a greater healing time and some possibility of nerve injury.
Care At Our London Clinic
Seeing a leading maxillofacial consultant is a sound first step. There may be causal, symptomatic, or separate oral conditions to be addressed, which can be accurately diagnosed and treated.
A complete range of possible jaw conditions will have been considered where your case requires this, to ensure sound treatment planning.
Where a temporomandibular joint disorder is the primary issue, your treatment will focus on minimum intervention for maximum effect. A high level of care should be based on full recovery, without unnecessary risks.
We appreciate the loss of function and pain TMJ disorders can bring. Issues are not often confined to the jaw, discomfort can be wider and core functions such as eating, or speaking are often affected.
Good oral function is an essential part of enjoying a healthy, pleasant life. If our London clinic can help, please get in touch with a friendly team.
