What is "TMJ?"

What is “TMJ?”

It is very common to hear people say “I have TMJ” or “I used to have TMJ.” Well, actually we all have two TMJs. The term means Temperomandibular Joint, or more commonly know as the jaw joint for which we have two. In everyday vernacular the term has come to refer to those people who have pain in the joint, head and/or neck. Many of these people will have debilitating headaches that lead to severe problems such as pain and even suicide in severe cases. As a professional who treats these types of patients I often will use the terms TMD (Temperomandibular Disorder) or CMD (Crainiomandibular Disorder). These terms more accurately reflect the complexity of these disorders that not only affect the jaw joints but often times the muscles of the head and neck.

So what are the symptoms of TMD/CMD and how would I know if I have this problem? Many people have chronic pain that they have never even considered discussing with their dentist because the problems did not appear to be associated with the teeth. These people often times are frequent visitors to Chiropractors, physical therapist and massage therapist for their problems. However, they may get better for a short period of time but must again return for treatment because the symptoms do not permanently go away. Their symptoms might include a vast array of problems that could include frequent headaches, neck pain, numbness in the hands and arms, joint clicking and popping, inability to chew certain foods or gum and on and on. The list is rather extensive and may not necessarily seem dental related. These patients will however often be clenchers and grinders of their teeth, especially while sleeping. I have found that a trained dental professional is usually the key person of the treatment team in the successful correction of these problems.

How do I get treatment for TMD/CMD? Many dentists have little or no training in treatment complex TMD cases or chronic pain patients. Their only treatment protocol is to give someone an arbitrary “mouth guard” to wear at night. This simplistic approach is almost always an inadequate way to treat TMD/CMD problems. The patient must first find someone who has extensively studied in the arena of TMD and chronic pain, then they have to look at the different methods or philosophies to choose the one they feel best matches their own philosophy. There exist many varying opinions on how to treat these disorders. A general dentist may suggest treatment different than an oral surgeon and an oral surgeon may treat differently than an orthodontist. As you can see, this could get very confusing.

One such philosophy of treatment TMD is known as the neuromuscular approach. This method has evolved over the past 40 years by some of the brightest minds in all of dentistry. Neuromuscular Dentistry is also the only system that uses computer diagnostics to quantify exactly what is going on both in the joints but also with the muscles. This eliminates much of the human error or guesswork associated with many of the other philosophies of treatment. Neuromuscular Dentistry utilizes a complex computer to determine the optimal position of a person’s bite and then uses this information as a treatment goal for correcting the tooth position problems usually associated with TMD/CMD.

In some of these cases it is necessary for the Neuromuscular Dentist to enlist the services of the massage therapist, physical therapist and chiropractors who have a similar understanding of how the muscles play a major roll in these patients. If these other professional are well trained in neuromuscular concepts the team can offer a comprehensive treatment approach. When this team approach is used the chronic pain patient has a significantly higher percentage of recovery. For someone who has lost years of their life because of this debilitating pain this is a very promising approach to treating chronic pain. I encourage anyone who possibly has TMD/CMD problems to do some research on the web about neuromuscular and TMD/CMD dentistry and ask their dentist if they treat TMD. It could be the first step in gaining a quality of life everyone deserves!

Dr. Harding owns the Harding Dental Center in Avon, Colorado. He is on the teaching staff at The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies and is a Preferred Medical Provider to the US Ski and Snowboard Teams. He can be reached at [email protected] or 970-845-9980