Royal Oak and Birmingham, MI
If you have temporomandibular joint disorder, this condition can harm the alignment of your bite and/or jaws. TMJ disorder also often causes significant pain, sometimes serious enough to be debilitating. Seeking the care of a qualified medical professional is crucial. However, finding the right practitioner to identify and treat a case of TMJ disorder can be just as difficult as it is to properly diagnose TMJ disorder. Today on the blog, we take a look at how your dentist treats TMJ disorder.
The importance of training
As mentioned, it is crucial to find a dentist who has the knowledge and training to correctly diagnose a case of TMJ disorder. This is because TMJ disorder often never gets diagnosed or is misdiagnosed. For example, the ailment often provokes headaches that occur regularly enough and with such severity that they can be misidentified as migraines. A dentist who wants to treat TMJ disorder needs to have training in neuromuscular dentistry, which focuses on the entire system of hard and soft tissue that resides in the mouth—emphasizing the alignment of the bite and jaws.
What signs of TMJ disorder should I watch for?
Any of the following issues can be evidence that you currently are suffering from this condition:
- A persistent ringing in the ears
- Migraine headaches that do not respond fully to standard treatments for migraines
- Jaw pain
- Tooth pain that seems to migrate to different locations in the mouth
- Hearing a popping or clicking sound when your jaws open and close
- Pain in your neck and back, especially if treatment from your general physician or chiropractor has failed to provide lasting relief
The importance of proper treatment
If you suffer from TMJ disorder, you cannot merely “tough it out” or hope that the condition goes away. This is actually the worst decision you can make, as this just means the ailment will continue to worsen as time passes. In fact, failure to seek diagnosis and treatment only will exacerbate a case of TMJ. While the symptoms of this disorder can vary greatly from person to person, TMJ frequently causes pain—often of chronic and severe varieties, bad enough to impede your ability to function on a daily basis and complete regular tasks. Eventually, TMJ will continue to create problems throughout your body. The dysfunction in the temporomandibular joint will spread from the jaw joints to the adjacent musculature, blood vessels, and nerves, eventually impacting the face, neck, and even the spine.
Long-term consequences of untreated TMJ disorder may include:
- Pinched nerves
- Misaligned cervical vertebrae
- Numbness or tingling in extremities
Diagnosis and treatment of TMJ disorder in Royal Oak and Birmingham in Michigan
TMJ disorder is a serious medical condition that only will be resolved by treatment from a qualified medical professional like Dr. Hartrick. Stop living with the pain and other issues that can stem from a case of untreated TMJ disorder. Unfortunately, many people with TMJ disorder never receive a proper diagnosis. That does not have to be your fate. Instead, if you are experiencing symptoms of TMJ disorder, make your appointment at Hartrick Dentistry today by calling (248) 549-0950.