When someone tells you to relax, you probably don’t think about relaxing your jaw. Yet we carry a lot of tension in that area, sometimes even to the point of pain. Stress, trauma, misalignment, and night grinding can all overtax your jaw muscles and temporomandibular joint (TMJ). When this happens, you can develop temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD).
At Village Dental, we don’t tell you to just relax. Our TMJ dentists take practical and effective steps to relieve jaw pain and eliminate your TMD symptoms. Develop mindfulness, learn relaxation techniques, and get custom oral equipment to combat this insidious condition.
Your TMJ links your jawbone to your skull. It’s responsible for moving your jaw to chew, talk, or yawn. That joint and the muscles around it are incredibly strong. In fact, those muscles exert 55 pounds of force on your incisors and 200 pounds of force on your molars according to the Library of Congress. As a result, when your TMJ isn’t working right, it’s no wonder you feel pain, have trouble sleeping, or can’t chew properly.
Those challenges are all part of TMD, which refers to any kind of dysfunction related to that jaw joint. You may develop TMD because your teeth are misaligned, putting unnatural stress on your jaw. Other culprits are TMJ arthritis, jaw injuries, teeth grinding or clenching (bruxism), or just plain old stress.
Because TMD has such diverse causes and includes a number of jaw conditions, TMJ pain can be very different from person to person. That can also make TMD difficult to diagnose, as you may not even realize that the source of your problems is your jaw. Common symptoms our TMJ disorder dentists watch out for:
TMJ mouth guards, also called night guards, are one of the most effective treatments for TMJ/TMD. Village Dental custom-makes these oral appliances to fit snugly over your teeth, creating a cushion between your upper and lower jaw. Night guards gently guide your jaw into a neutral position, easing muscle tension. They also protect your teeth from damaging each other. Just wearing this during sleep is how to stop teeth grinding and jaw clenching during the night. No more pesky TMD symptoms!
Our general dentists also offer additional support for jaw issues. For instance, we can provide you with TMJ exercises to release tension and ease pain. We provide continuing care by checking on your progress during your regular appointments. Our team can tweak your treatment according to your feedback. We’ll even clean your night guard for you to ensure it stays fresh and lasts as long as you need it.
For residents near Union Square, jaw pain relief is literally right around the corner at Village Dental. Our TMD dentists have an eye for the subtleties of this disorder. We can get you a diagnosis and start you on the journey to jaw wellness. Reach out today to schedule a TMJ consultation by calling 212-674-2024 or booking online.
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