Some of the most annoying, most plaguing problems we treat in our Wilmington holistic dental office are related to something called the TMJ or temporomandibular joint. Feel that area below your ear where your jaw comes together, that’s what we’re talking about. Did you know that everything from minor and major issues with your TMJ can wreak havoc on your entire body? That’s why it’s time to get real about your TMJ and masking your pain with medications or treatments that just don’t work.
One of the reasons TMJ or the disorder (temporomandibular disorder or TMD) associated with it usually goes undiagnosed is because it can manifest itself elsewhere in the body in some pretty unusual ways.
As you open and close your mouth, a healthy TMJ will simply glide over your temporal bone with the help of some strong muscles nearby. Sometimes these muscles can begin to spasm if your TMJ is bracing to close to your bone. When your bone is compressed so are those nearby muscles leading to some interesting symptoms such as:
On their own, any one of these symptoms doesn’t really show a clear connection to TMD. Patients of all ages often bounce from doctor to doctor, specialist to specialist, without getting the real diagnosis or treatment. Based on their medical training, different doctors will treat your symptoms differently. This might leave you with some improvements to your health issues or pain, but the true cause of your problem was never addressed. Your Wilmington holistic dentist wants to change all that.
As a result, as time passes, you could experience side effects from the chronic use of medication. This could even further mask the true origin of your issues or create additional health concerns. As you can see, while TMD isn’t really life-threatening, it’s definitely life-debilitating.
We’ve treated so many patients struggling with TMD, so we know there’s hope for relief, even for the most severe cases. Using solutions such as neuromuscular techniques we can create a custom oral appliance that can change your life. It’s generally used to decompress your TMJ and help to relax those nearby muscles that help you chew food properly.
Sometimes all it takes is a fresh perspective to your problem. That’s why we encourage anyone who’s been having issues like the ones we discussed here today, to call our Wilmington holistic dental office. We take the time to listen to you, understand your concerns, and really find out what’s causing your health issues. Like we said, you’ve already been masking your pain. This is the time to finally figure out what’s causing it.
Make 2020 the year you finally decided to go pain-free and pill-free. You’ll find there’s a whole new, wonderful world out there that’s waiting for you to make it a little bit better and brighter.
It all adds up to better health, smile, body, and spirit!