TMJ Treatment

Temporomandibular Joint Treatment

What is TMJ?
TMJ is an acronym that stands for temporomandibular joint. Your temporomandibular joints are located on both sides of your face, just in front of your ears. The TMJs connect your lower jawbone to your skull and assist in movements like chewing and speaking.

What is TMD?
TMD stands for temporomandibular joint disorder. This refers to any dysfunction of the TMJ. Many people use the terms TMJ and TMD interchangeably.
TMJ dysfunction occurs when the muscles and ligaments around your jaw joints become inflamed or irritated. The condition may be acute or chronic, and the resulting pain may be mild or severe.

Treatment:
In some cases, the symptoms of TMJ disorders may go away without treatment. If your symptoms persist, your doctor may recommend a variety of treatment options, often more than one to be done at the same time.

Medications: Along with other nonsurgical treatments, these medication options may help relieve the pain associated with TMJ disorders:

Pain relievers and anti-inflammatories: If over-the-counter pain medications aren’t enough to relieve TMJ pain, your doctor or dentist may prescribe stronger pain relievers for a limited time, such as prescription strength ibuprofen.
Tricyclic antidepressants: These medications, such as amitriptyline, are used mostly for depression, but in low doses, they’re sometimes used for pain relief, bruxism control, and sleeplessness.
Muscle relaxants: These types of drugs are sometimes used for a few days or weeks to help relieve pain caused by TMJ disorders created by muscle spasms.

Therapies: Non Drug therapies for TMJ disorders include:

Oral splints or mouth guards (occlusal appliances): Often, people with jaw pain will benefit from wearing a soft or firm device inserted over their teeth, but the reasons why these devices are beneficial are not well-understood.
Physical therapy: Along with exercises to stretch and strengthen jaw muscles, treatments might include ultrasound, moist heat, and ice.
Counseling: Education and counseling can help you understand the factors and behaviors that may aggravate your pain, so you can avoid them. Examples include teeth clenching or grinding, leaning on your chin, or biting fingernails.

Surgical or other procedures: When other methods don’t help, your doctor might suggest procedures such as:

Arthrocentesis: Arthrocentesis is a minimally invasive procedure that involves the insertion of small needles into the joint so that fluid can be irrigated through the joint to remove debris and inflammatory byproducts.
Injections: In some people, corticosteroid injections into the joint may be helpful. Infrequently, injecting botulinum toxin type A (Botox, others) into the jaw muscles used for chewing may relieve pain associated with TMJ disorders.
TMJ arthroscopy: In some cases, arthroscopic surgery can be as effective for treating various types of TMJ disorders as open-joint surgery. A small thin tube (cannula) is placed into the joint space, an arthroscope is then inserted and small surgical instruments are used for surgery. TMJ arthroscopy has fewer risks and complications than open-joint surgery does, but it has some limitations as well.
Modified condylotomy: Modified condylotomy (kon-dih-LOT-uh-mee) addresses the TMJ indirectly, with surgery on the mandible, but not in the joint itself. It may be helpful for the treatment of pain and if locking is experienced.
Open-joint surgery: If your jaw pain does not resolve with more-conservative treatments and it appears to be caused by a structural problem in the joint, your doctor or dentist may suggest open-joint surgery (arthrotomy) to repair or replace the joint. However, open-joint surgery involves more risks than other procedures do and should be considered very carefully, after discussing the pros and cons.

 

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