Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD)

Your temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, connects your jawbone to your skull at your temporal bone. It’s necessary for talking, chewing, and swallowing. You need it just to open your mouth! If you experience pain or discomfort when doing any of those tasks, you may have a temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD). 

 

TMD is caused by stress, along with the clenching and grinding of the teeth and jaws (bruxism). Other possibilities are facial trauma or inflammatory conditions.

 

The common symptoms of TMD:

• Jaw becoming stuck in an open position


• Difficulty chewing and opening your mouth


• Ear pain, accompanied by headaches


• Popping or clicking noise when moving the jaw


• Teeth grinding

 

The biggest factor for TMD is teeth grinding. Many people do it without even realizing it! When you grind your teeth, your top and bottom rows scrape against each other. This wears down your enamel and exposes the dentin. Dentin is incredibly sensitive, causing discomfort and pain.

 

For short-term relief, apply hot/cold packs to the affected area. Do this in 15-minute intervals for the best results. You should also take over-the-counter pain medications. Sometimes, a nightguard is needed. This prevents your teeth from grinding against each other while you sleep. 

 

 

What Is TMD?

The temporomandibular joint is a hinge that connects your jaw bone (mandible) to the temporal bones in your skull, in front of each ear.  A general term for any problem or issue with this joint is temporomandibular disorder, or TMD. The doctors at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania can help patients prevent and recover from negative effects of TMD.

Patients that grind or clench their teeth often end up with a sore jaw.  Other patients experience injuries with facial trauma that cause jaw pain, or result in the patient feeling their jaw gets stuck or ‘locks’ in either an open or closed position.  A custom night guard keeps the jaw in a neutral position during sleep, and this helps many patients find relief from TMD symptoms.  For any pain, your dentist may recommend an over-the-counter painkiller or warm and cold compresses.  To prevent further discomfort, you may be assigned stretches for your jaw. 

Whatever your symptoms, you don’t have to suffer with discomfort in your jaw.  To learn more about TMD and the services provided at the practice, visit www.oralsurgerypa.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with one of our doctors at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, call 215-463-4141.

TMJ Foods to Avoid

If you’ve been diagnosed with a TMJ disorder, our doctors at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania want to assure that you are pain-free. If you have TMJ/TMD you may want to avoid certain types of foods that may be making your condition worse. We don’t recommend making any drastic changes, but we do suggest incorporating softer foods into your diet. TMJ is a chronic condition that requires self-care measures.

The constant motion of your jaw can aggravate your joint pain when chewy foods are a staple of your diet. This is because your jaw works overtime when you consume chewy foods such as caramel, taffy, chewing gum and tougher cuts of meat and fish (lobster). Types of food to avoid include chewy snacks, fatty foods, and foods that are cut into large pieces. To summarize, any type of food that allows you to open your mouth wide or chew for long periods of time may aggravate your TMJ. Instead, we recommend incorporating more soft foods into your diet, such as cooked veggies, soft bread, and yogurt.

To learn more about the services we provide at our practice, visit www.oralsurgerypa.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with one of our doctors at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, call 215-463-4141.