TMD/TMJ Treatment – Plano, TX
Proven Solutions for Persistent Jaw & Head Pain
If you wiggle your jaw from side to side, those little joints you feel right in front of your ears are actually your TMJ, or temporomandibular joint. This is what allows your lower jaw to move freely in all directions. Like other joints in your body, it can sometimes develop strain or injury that leads to pain and stiffness felt throughout the head, face, and neck. At Orofacial Pain Associates, our dentists are experts with decades of experience diagnosing and treating TMJ disorder (TMD), so if you’re ready to stop your jaw aches and headaches, contact us today to start getting the answers and relief you need.
What is TMD/TMJ?
The terms TMJ and TMD are often used interchangeably, but they aren’t the same thing. The TMJ is the jaw joint, and a TMD is a problem with the joint. The TMJ is a pretty complicated collection of muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, and nerves that enable the jaw to have a wide range of motion, and slight imbalances in the body can cause it to not work properly, leading to long-term discomfort and dysfunction.
Symptoms of TMD
A TMD can manifest itself in many different ways, and it’s often confused and treated as another problem because its signs overlap with other medical issues. Some of the most telling symptoms that someone might have a TMD, however, include:
- Persistent jaw pain
- A jaw that pops and clicks all the time
- A jaw that becomes stuck opening or closing
- An inability to open or close the mouth completely
- Chronic headaches and migraines
- Frequent ear and neck aches
- Teeth grinding while sleeping
Diagnosing TMD
Many patients with TMD are misdiagnosed because doctors don’t know to look for it, so most patients who come to see us have already undergone some kind of treatment for their pain, and they either didn’t see results, or the results didn’t last. At Orofacial Pain Associates, our team has the technology and experience to thoroughly examine the TMJ and figure out exactly what is causing a patient’s discomfort. Thanks to the accuracy of our diagnostics, we can help a patient find the appropriate treatment plan that will lead to long-term relief.
Learn More About How TMD is Diagnosed
Treating TMD
While other practices treat TMD the same way for every patient, Orofacial Pain Associates is able to provide a multitude of solutions so we can better personalize our care. We can use medication and injections to deliver immediate relief and then utilize custom-made mouthguards to fix the problem long-term. We can also teach our patients certain skills that will help them manage, reduce, and eliminate their pain as well as prevent it from coming back.