TMJ

TMJ Treatment And Surgery: Chronic Jaw Pain Solutions 

You should not have to live with chronic jaw pain—and your daily life should not be affected by how your jaw feels or functions. 

 

Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome, more commonly referred to as TMJ, occurs when a person experiences pain in the jaw joint. There are a multitude of medical issues that can cause this pain, from poor posture to clenching and grinding, to misalignment of the jaw. 

 

Untreated, TMJ pain can be not only debilitating but degenerative as well. If you’ve been experiencing ongoing and chronic  jaw pain, tightness, headaches, ear pain, or clicking or popping in the jaw joint, you could be experiencing TMJ. 

 

An estimated 10 million people across the country suffer from TMJ, a majority of them women. Many don’t seek treatment, or even know that there is hope for relief. 

 

Symptoms of TMJ include: 

 

• Jaw pain 
• Jaw locking
• Jaw clicking and popping
• Jaw tenderness
• Limited jaw movement 
• Pain while eating or difficulty eating and chewing
• Earaches and ear pain 
• Pain in the face
• Headaches 

 

Common causes of TMJ

 

• Misaligned jaw 
• Arthritis 
• Stress and anxiety 
• Genetic propensity 
• Jaw clenching 
• Teeth grinding 
• Past jaw injury or trauma 
• Connective tissues diseases 

 

Note that some people may have multiple causes of their TMJ, such as stress and a misaligned jaw. 

Treatment at Gallatin Valley Surgical Arts

We specialize in the treatment of patients suffering from TMJ disorders. Our absolute first step when seeing these patients is to review their medical history, examine their jaw area, and learn about their TMJ issues. Determining the cause or causes of their jaw joint pain is absolutely imperative to relieving the pain and curing the patient.

 

Diagnosing TMJ may involve the following: 

 

• A medical examination that involves listening to, feeling, and looking at the jaw in movement.
• Dental x-rays.  
• An MRI. 
• A CAT scan. 
• Arthroscopy, to examine the interior of the jaw. 

 

TMJ pain will not be successful unless the root cause of your disorder is understood. For example, if your jaw pain is caused by arthritis, the treatment is very different from if your jaw pain is caused by stress.

 

It’s also important to note that many sufferers of a TMJ disorder may experience pain for multiple reasons. For example, a patient may have a misaligned bite and also grind their teeth. Another patient may have past jaw trauma as well as stress and anxiety that is making the issue worse.

 

Although Gallatin Valley Surgical Arts treat some TMJ disorders with jaw surgery, we believe that operating should only be considered after other options are exhausted and only in certain cases. 

 

Treatment of TMJ can be broken into four categories: 

• Medication, which can include pain relievers, muscle relaxants, and some anti-depressants. 
• Therapies, which can include physical therapy and counseling. 
• Devices, such as splints and mouth guards. 
• Surgical procedures, such as injections or join repair or replacement. 

 

To learn more about the cause of your TMJ pain as well as your treatment options, please call and schedule a consultation today.

Schedule a TMJ Consultation Today 

Know that your jaw pain can likely be treated, minimized, relieved, or completely healed with the help of experienced doctors and a comprehensive treatment plan. Find out more about the cause of your TMJ as well as the best ways to approach fixing the issue. Take the first step by contacting us today to schedule an initial consultation.