TMJ Disorder

If you wake up in the morning feeling pain in your jaw or a feeling of tiredness or tightness in your chewing muscles you may be suffering from “TMJ Disorder.” TMJ stands for Temporomandibular Joint, which means the joint connecting your jaw to the rest of your skull. When this joint becomes inflamed, it is called TMJ disorder.

There are a variety of causes of TMJ disorders, from stress to excessive gum chewing. For a proper diagnosis, your dentist looks for a variety of symptoms.

These include:

• Pain in the jaw
• Pain in the neck, at the base of the ears and in the lower back of your head
• Wear of teeth (especially if no other symptoms of misalignment are present)
• Difficulty opening the jaw completely
• Popping or grinding sounds when opening the mouth widely

For general treatment, your bite may be balanced and/or you may be fitted with a special mouth guard that will prevent your teeth from being damaged and keep your jaw from clenching while you sleep, ultimately putting an end to or greatly decreasing jaw pain.