TMJ Specialists NYC

Are you suffering the painful side effects of TMJ? Our NYC TMJ specialists will help get to the bottom of what’s causing your TMJ discomfort. We will come up with a treatment plan to correct your jaw and teeth alignment issues.

Temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders—TMJ or TMD disorders, for short—are common issues that lead to pain and discomfort in the jaw. The jawbone is connected to the rest of your skull by means of the temporomandibular joint, and the muscles in the jaw are what move your jaw in different directions.

If your jaw alignment has been thrown off by trauma, for example, or misaligned teeth, this can lead to all kinds of issues. Chief among these issues is the pain you’ll suffer in the jaw muscle, mostly, but misalignment can also lead to other serious issues, as well. If you’re suffering from TMJ, get help from the TMJ specialists NYC at New York Dentist.

Symptoms of TMJ Syndrome

In addition to pain and headaches, a misaligned jaw can cause your teeth to prematurely wear down. When you don’t have a correct bite, called malocclusion, your teeth can chip, break, or crack at the root. TMJ can also cause painful locking in the jaw. All of this discomfort can severely affect your quality of life.

A few common signs and symptoms of TMJ syndrome to look for include the following:

Jaw Popping and Clicking – When the joint isn’t working properly, this can cause the joint to get stuck or rub in such a way that it creates popping and clicking sounds.
Ear Aches and Pain – The jaw joint is close to the ear canal and can cause pain in the ear and surrounding areas.
Ear Popping – You might hear the popping of your jaw joint in your ears or your ears could become clogged due to the surrounding pressure and swelling.
Jaw Pain – TMJ can be very painful in the jaw muscles and in the joint. It’s possible to manage pain using medication, but you may require treatment to eliminate the issues entirely.
Headaches – Clenching, pressure, and grinding of teeth can all lead to headaches.
Stiff or Sore Jaw Muscles – Overuse of the jaw muscles can lead to jaw muscle soreness or stiffness.
Temple Pain – Some of the pain in your jaw can radiate to your temples, which often leads to headaches and migraines.
Lockjaw – In some cases, a person’s jaw can actually become stuck in one position for a long time.
Unexplained Loss of Teeth – If you’re losing teeth suddenly and for no apparent reason, it could be due to TMJ from grinding, clenching, or sudden trauma.
Tooth Pain – TMJ puts tremendous pressure on your teeth and can cause teeth to break, wear down, or become painful.

How Did You Get TMJ Syndrome?

You can get TMJ syndrome for a variety of reasons. In some cases, jaw issues can be hereditary. Misaligned teeth, including overbite and underbite, can also be hereditary and can lead to TMJ over time. Arthritis can cause joint issues, and a major factor that causes jaw pain and misalignment is severe trauma, as in an accident.

Serious injury to the jaw might require significant treatment to correct. Common treatments for TMJ include realigning your teeth to improve your bite and thus your jaw. There are also treatments that help with teeth grinding, and in rare but serious cases of TMJ, you could require surgery to correct your issue.

TMJ is often linked to the following:

Arthritis

Many people believe that arthritis is a disease in and of itself, but it’s actually a word used to refer to inflammation of a joint. Arthritis in the jaw can be caused by a number of factors, such as traumatic injury (e.g. a difficult extraction of a tooth) or an infection that has spread to the jaw.

Jaw Injury or Impact

When you are in an accident, or hurt in some other way, your jawbone can be damaged or misaligned. In some cases, it can be difficult to return your jawbone to the state it was in before the accident, which means you might need surgery or other treatments to fix the problem. You could also require medication to deal with the pain.

Clenching or Grinding Your Teeth

When you clench and grind your teeth, you will cause yourself a variety of issues. You can break or chip your teeth and wear down the surfaces of your teeth. In addition to teeth breakage, you will weaken the enamel, which invites cavities to form. You could require fillings or other dental treatment to correct these issues.

Also, the pressure from clenching and grinding your teeth can cause muscle pain. If you clench or grind hard enough, you can damage the jawbone in addition to your teeth.

Connective Tissue Disorders

Simply put, connective tissue disorders are irregularities involving a person’s cartilage, tissue, and bones. These irregularities can create issues with different joints in the body—particularly the temporomandibular joint.

Bad Bite (Malocclusion)

A bad bite will eventually catch up to you, either through the wearing out of your teeth, or in the causing of other oral health issues. A bad bite can also cause pain in the jaw, as your mouth and jaw muscles must work harder to chew foods than they should.

Contact the TMJ Specialists NYC at New York Dentist

Don’t continue to suffer from the pain of TMJ when you don’t have to. The TMJ specialists NYC from New York Dental can help you solve the issues with your misaligned jaw. We can work to treat the causes and eliminate the frustrating symptoms that are negatively impacting your life.

Call 555-555-5555 to discuss your options and set an appointment. You can also make an appointment online by completing the form below. We can usually get you in for a same-day smile consultation. Get rid of the pain of TMJ so your jaw muscles can be used to do what they were meant to—smiling.