Cosmetic Dentistry Directory Blog

It is simply impossible to accurately treat a medical problem without first properly diagnosing it. Temporomandibular joint disorder, commonly referred to as TMJ or TMD, is a frequently misdiagnosed medical (dental) condition because its symptoms are many, varied, and resemble the symptoms of so many other medical conditions. But TMD is a bad bite and can be correctly diagnosed by a neuromuscular dentist.

People who have TMD suffer a whole host of painful symptoms including:

• Severe headaches
• Jaw pain
• Facial pain
• Jaw stiffness
• Clicking, popping noises in the jaw
• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
• Neck/shoulder pain
• Locking of the jaw

Often times, people spend years trying to find a medical doctor to relieve their symptoms and "fix" them, but, in actuality, it is most often a neuromuscular dentist who correctly diagnoses this group of symptoms as temporomandibular joint disorder.

Neuromuscular dentistry focuses on correcting your bite. Using a TENS unit (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation), the TMD diagnosis itself corrects it temporarily, relieving pain immediately. This provides the goal for your treatment plan - to make that jaw position permanent and eliminate your symptoms.

Some other tools used in TMD diagnosis are:

• K7 Evaluation System -- one of the most significant tools used to locate the proper position of the jaw (within tenths of a millimeter). K7 technology utilizes sonography, electromyography, and jaw tracking to determine the jaw's current and optimal positions.
• Computed Tomography (CT scan) provides a detailed view of the bones in the joint and surrounding areas; it does not provide great detail of the soft tissues.
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) provides detail of the soft tissues connected to the jaw joint (muscles, nerves, blood vessels).
• Tomography is a type of x-ray that shows cross-sections of your jaw; these machines are typically found in neuromuscular dentists' offices.
• X-rays performed in the dentist's office can provide him/her with views of your jaw joint and the surrounding bones and teeth.

Once it is determined that you have TMD, a treatment plan will be discussed.

If you would like to learn more about TMD and how it is diagnosed, please contact a neuromuscular dentist in your area today; to learn more, please read our Questions About Neuromuscular Dentistry page today.