Your Calgary Invisalign Provider
What is TMJ/TMD?
The TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint) is a hinge that connects your jaw to the temporal bones of your skull. It lets you move your jaw up and down and side to side so you can talk and eat. For some people, oral pain comes as the result of tooth decay or gum disease. But for many others, jaw problems, in the form of TMD, can be the source of significant discomfort.
Temporomandibular joint pain or Temporomandibular Dysfunction (TMD) describes pain and dysfunction of the muscles of mastication; that is, the muscles that move the jaw. Issues with these muscles or nerves in your jaw or face can cause symptoms like jaw pain, headaches and ringing in the ears. If left untreated, it can lead to chronic pain, bone loss, and oral health issues like gum tissue changes and loose teeth.
Most often caused by misalignment of the teeth and/or jaw, other factors that may contribute to the disorder include skull shape, genetics, airway issues and injury or trauma to the jaw.
Why You Need a Comfortable Bite
If you are diagnosed with a "bad bite" or TMD, we often start treatment by fitting you with a temporary stabilization appliance. We can then determine the cause and prognosis of your issues. Once you have a diagnosis, we can begin to correct the cause in the most conservative way possible.
This sometimes means we need to collaborate with your team of healthcare providers. An open mind allows us to better identify the origin of the problem… and sometimes it is not dental. Ultimately, identifying cause is the most important step!
If you’ve been suffering from TMD, your dentist may be able to help.
Many dentists make it part of their practice to address issues relating to headaches, jaw pain and misalignment. Sometimes, a “bad bite”, or what is technically referred to as malocclusion, can contribute to TMD (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder).
In other words, when your teeth are misaligned, they may put an added strain on the head and neck muscles, on the joints, and on the teeth themselves, leading to TMD.
When your muscles are overloaded, they compensate by constantly contracting. These contractions can lead to muscle spasm, pain, and soreness. This can result in a headache and/or jaw pain – pounding or crushing pain. It can also lead to neck and back issues, as your body tries to compensate.
So, how do you know if you have a headache as a result of a bad bite, or if you’re experiencing some other problem, such as sleep issues or arthritis?
By evaluating your pain in the context of whole body health, we’ll do our best to determine the cause of your symptoms and treat your pain accordingly. Or, we'll work with your other healthcare providers to get you the most appropriate care for the condition in question.
Headaches and jaw pain can be caused by something simple, or by something complex. Understanding the cause will help guide the treatment.
Causes of Dental-Related Headaches
There are many different classifications of headaches. For instance, migraines, cluster headaches, and of course, tension headaches, to name a few.
It is nearly impossible to tell exactly what causes the majority of headaches, but many people suffer headaches from stress or inflammation of the temporomandibular joint (jaw joint), or TMJ.
This condition is called Temporomandibular Disorder, or TMD. The jaw joint has a very wide range of motion, with the ability to open, slide, and move side to side. The TMJ is the only joint that has two sides that work in tandem. When they fail to work in tandem, it can cause inflammation of one or both sides, due to the stresses placed on the joint.
There are many things that can cause TMD, including:
- Missing teeth
- Trauma
- Excessive or difficult chewing habits
- Crooked teeth
- Sleep issues
If you suffer from chronic headaches, book an appointment with the Orijin Dental team today; we can help!
