One of the most hard working and yet tiniest joints in your body is the temporomandibular joint that links the upper and lower jaws together. These two little things put in a lot of work each day in Sunbury with your eating, chewing and chattering, but this is part of the deal and it can handle things such as these. What the joint can’t handle though is extra curricular work that can come from teeth grinding or damage that can arise from sports. Teeth grinding can obliterate these joints over time: it wears them down, makes them click and also leads to damage throughout the head and neck. Sport can also put these joints in danger if the right precautions aren’t taken. It is why you have your teeth aligned and crowns fitted when any damage occurs in your teeth- to help your bite. If you look at a skull, it really brings home just how fragile these joints are and how they are only held together by muscles. It isn’t easy to say that you should be more aware of these joints as opposed to any others in the body, but if you are aware of what it is that they do and the way they do it, it may just sink in on some level enough to make you cautious about your jaws in the future. You can learn a lot more about your TMJ, how it works and what to do if things start to go wrong from Mulberry Dental Care in Walton.
Posts tagged “jaw pain”
TMJ is the common name for a collection of complaints called Temporomandibular Joint and Muscle Disorders. These are a collection of complaints that affect the jaw and the surrounding muscles, limiting jaw movement and causing pain. TMJ is often poorly understood which can often lead to misdiagnosis and continued pain and discomfort. TMJ is often attributed as symptom of a wider condition and ignored as a condition in its own right.
It is thought that as many as one in ten people suffer from some form of the condition but few ever receive the necessary treatment. The main symptoms of TMJ are characterised by pain but there can be a number of other tell tale signs. Limited movement of the jaw, ringing in the ears, dizziness and muscle stiffness can all also be signs of TMJ. Often TMJ is only mild and will heal on its own without treatment over a few weeks. However, if the pain does not go away it may be necessary to go to your Kingston-upon-Thames dentist to have the problem treated.
At present there is no standard test for the diagnosis of TMJ. Your dentist will need to conduct a series of tests and examine your medical history to see if you are likely to be a sufferer. There are several major causes of TMJ but the most likely include injuries to the jaw, genetic predisposition and clenching or grinding of the teeth. Treatment of the condition often involves avoiding food difficult to chew and anything that could involve a large jaw movement. Keeping the levels of discomfort to a minimum will help to reduce the impact of the condition and allow for a more speedy recovery.