Everything about TMJ Treatment in Calgary

You are mistaken to think that dental care concerns teeth only. Quite the contrary, dental care involves every bit of the mouth. This means that services offered in dentistry cater to the gum tissue, bone structures, tonsils, tongue, as well as TMJ.

What is TMJ? 

It is an acronym for temporomandibular joint. It is the part of the face where the lower and upper jawbone are connected. The joint is located at the front part of the ears on both sides. This joint is responsible for enabling movements of the mouth. Such functions as eating, biting, talking, yawning, among others, are made possible by this joint. Since the joint is internal, it is not every day that the TMJ is damaged. However, some instances can cause trauma to the TMJ causing a dysfunction. The dysfunction makes it hard for patients to perform any typical functions of the mouth as those mentioned earlier. This dysfunction is otherwise known as temporomandibular disorder (TMD).

What Causes TMJ Disorder? 

There aren’t many reasons why your temporomandibular joint could be dysfunctional. However, if it is the case, then some of the following reasons could explain your disorder:

• Bruxism – it is a situation where patients grind their teeth excessively. Excessive teeth grinding, especially at night, puts a lot of pressure on the TMJ. When this joint takes up the pressure, it results in pain and discomfort.
• Displacement of the discs – the discs at the joint can move from its rightful alignment, causing it to act abnormally.
• Traumatic injury – an injury in your face may not only hurt you externally. Sometimes, the impact can be too much that it damages the TMJ and the surrounding bone tissue. Most of the patients that benefit from TMJ treatment in Calgary AB are usually victims of traumatic accidents and injuries.

What Are the Risk Factors of TMJ? 

A TMJ specialist in Calgary will tell you that some of the reasons above do not explain TMD for all patients. Sometimes, patients have not experienced any of the above phenomena, but they still have the disorder. Such cases exist because of the risk factors of TMD, including:

• Stress – puts pressure on your entire system.
• Face clenching – it fatigues the facial muscles and puts pressure on the underlying bone structures.
• Hard foods – if you have a habit of chewing hard foods and biting into hard items, you can put a strain on your jawbone and consequently affect the TMJ.
• Genetics – if it runs in your family, you have a higher chance of getting it.
• Arthritis – the disease causes pain on joints and tendons. The TMJ is also a viable joint that can succumb to the effects of arthritis.

Symptoms of TMD 

Finding out about your disorder is best determined by a TMJ specialist near you. However, even before you consult expert opinion on your issue, considering the signs and symptoms you are experiencing can help you narrow down to what the problem could be. Calgary TMJ specialists try to train patients in the symptoms to look out for, which, ultimately, makes the diagn8lricess smoother. Some of the symptoms include:

• Tenderness and pain in the jaw – can be on one side of the joint or on both.
• Swelling of the cheeks rooting from the part right in front of the ears – inflammation is a response mechanism of the body’s immune system to the disorder.
• Migraine headaches – headaches often result when any part of the head is not doing fine. The disorder of the TMJ causes migraines which can be recurrent, depending on how long you have suffered the disorder.
• Ear pain – as the joint is located in front of the ears, any disorder will cause pain in the ears. Severe cases of TMD can even cause temporary deafness of the affected ear.
• Locked jaw – sometimes the jaw can get stuck in the open-mouth position. This will make it hard for you to close your mouth or perform any other functions of the mouth.
• Pain when moving the mouth – for your mouth to function appropriately, you have to move your upper and lower jaw repeatedly. If these movements cause you pain, then it could be TMD. Movements that facilitate effective chewing are especially sabotaged.