Management of Jaw Disorder/Pain

Jaw disorders or Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) is the term given to a number of symptoms which occur when the jaw joints and the associated muscles are disrupted which affects the chewing muscles (also known as muscles of mastication), joints that connect your lower jaw to your skull (also known as Temporomandibular joint-TMJ) and nerves that causes pain and dysfunction in the jaw.

TMJs are located on either side of the jaw and connect the lower jaw to the skull. TMDs can be caused by problems that prevent the muscles, bones, and joints from working together properly. TMJ usually affects people between twenty and forty years of age. It is more common in females, but one in ten people can have symptoms at some time in their life.

TMDs can cause pain, stiffness, and difficulty in chewing. Other symptoms include: 

• Headaches 
• Earaches 
• Limited mouth movement 
• Jaw clicking, popping, or locking 
• Ringing in the ears 
• Vertigo 
• Malocclusion, or a shift in the jaw that changes the alignment of the teeth 

Some factors that may increase the risk of developing TMDs include: 

• Arthritis 
• Jaw injury 
• Chronic grinding or clenching of teeth 
• Connective tissue diseases 
• Other pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia 
• Autoimmune disorders 
• Sleep apnea 
• Psychiatric illness 

Proper identification of correct factors causing TMDs is basic for therapeutic success. TMDs can be treated with: Resting the TMJ, Physical therapy, Medicine, Behavior changes, and an orthopedic appliance or mouthguard.