TMJ Therapy – Chardon, OH
Stopping Chronic Jaw Pain
Touch the sides of your head right in front of your earlobes and open your jaw. Do you feel the movement? You’ve found your temporomandibular joint, or TMJ. It keeps the lower jaw connected to the rest of your head, but like any other joint it can become injured. Disorders of the TMJ are known as TMD, and they tend to cause a lot of pain in the mouth, head, and even the rest of the body. Call our Chardon Smile Center team right away if you suspect that you have a TMD that will require TMJ therapy from our Chardon, OH dentist to stop your pain.
Why Choose Chardon Smile Center for TMJ Therapy?
- DYSPORT (BOTOX) Available for Pain Relief
- State of the Art Dental Technology
- Friendly, Understanding Dental Team
Diagnosis & Treatment
There’s no single cause for TMD; in fact, in some cases it Is never completely clear what led to the disorder in the first place. That said, most of the time it Is linked to stress, injury, arthritis, or bite misalignment putting strain on the TMJ and the surrounding muscles. The tension spreads to the rest of the body, causing jaw pain, chronic headaches, and other types of discomfort. In the worst cases scenario, a TMD might even make it more difficult to open and close your mouth. If you are suspected to have a TMD, we’ll perform various examines to try and determine the cause in order to figure out an ideal treatment plan.
DYSPORT (BOTOX) Injections
When the bite is slightly misaligned, it can cause the jaw to make involuntary adjustments whenever you open and close your mouth. Over time, the strain caused by these adjustments leads to TMD and small spasms, ultimately harming the muscles and joints while possibly causing bruxism. DYSPORT injections will temporarily paralyze key muscles to stop unnecessary spasms, letting you find relief from your discomfort. The treatment itself is brief, and the benefits can last for months before you need a follow-up appointment.
Nightguards for Bruxism
The effects of bruxism – unconscious clenching of the jaw at night – can slowly sneak up on you until one day, you find that your teeth are severely worn down or even fractured. Needless to say, this can also contribute to severe TMD. We can keep your teeth and jaws safe with a custom-made mouthguard that you can wear to bed every night. This will stop the teeth from grinding up against each other, and it will help relieve some of the pressure on your TMJ.