TMJ/TMD Therapy – Louisville, KY
How We Treat Jaw Pain
When you open and close your mouth, what do you feel? Does this cause pain to flare up in your jaw and around your ears? Does your jaw click and pop all the time or even become stuck opening or closing? All these signs point to a TMJ disorder, a very common problem faced by many people in Louisville. The TMJ (jaw joint) is an often overlook part of oral health, but at Remmers Dental, we’re able to provide the answers patients need as well as provide treatment to help them achieve complete relief.
Why Choose Remmers Dental for TMJ/TMD Therapy?
- Custom-Made Occlusal Splints
- BOTOX® Treatment Available
- Caring, Friendly Dental Team
Diagnosis & Treatment
Problems with the TMJ can stem from a variety of causes, but the primary ones tend to be stress, strain in the joint, an injury, arthritis, or a misaligned bite. If a patient reports feeling symptoms that could indicate a TMJ issue (stiff, painful jaw, persistent headaches, neck pain), we’ll perform a number of screenings and tests to get to the root of the issue. With this information, we can then recommend the appropriate treatment, which may include:
Equilibration/ Occlusal Adjustments
When the bite is misaligned to the point that the muscles in the jaw can’t fully relax, this can quickly lead to tension that turns into pain that radiates throughout the jaw and head. To correct this, we’ll simply reshape a few key teeth to help the bite come together properly. We usually only need to remove a few millimeters of enamel to accomplish this, meaning this treatment doesn’t alter the appearance of the smile. It does, however, often lead to complete pain relief.
Occlusal Splints
An occlusal splint is a small, custom-made mouthpiece that a patient would wear to bed each night, and it would help with a TMJ problem by slightly altering the jaw’s position, putting it and the surround muscles into a more natural and relaxed orientation. This will allow the area to heal and for the jaw to “learn” this new position. After a few weeks of consistent use, a patient should be able to go throughout their day without any lingering symptoms.
