Jaw Pain Treatment Clinic Q&A

You could go see your primary care doctor about jaw pain, but the doctor might just refer you to another kind of professional. A dentist can certainly help you, and we have dentists here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders, but we also have jaw pain doctors who help patients like you every day, and a jaw pain doctor can help you in a great number of ways. One can help you identify the cause of your pain, like a TMJ disorder, and then address the cause, not just the pain. Also, if your jaw pain is affecting your sleep, we’re even more capable of helping you at our clinic.

Jaw pain can be somewhat complicated, but mostly it’s caused by tension or dysfunction in the temporomandibular joint (the TMJ). A dysfunction is known as TMJ disorder, or TMD, and it’s the most common cause of jaw pain.

As for what causes a disorder, this can be more complicated, but it may be that your case of TMJ disorder is caused by a prior injury, teeth misalignment, a bad habit like teeth grinding, or a related issue. Sometimes stress or even hormonal changes can cause TMJ pain flare-ups. You definitely should ask the doctor you see about what could be causing your symptoms.

A jaw pain doctor understands jaw pain and problems really well, so one is especially qualified to help you. The first thing a jaw pain doctor will do is ask you about your symptoms, then try to interpret those symptoms and identify a potential cause. And once the doctor has a cause for your symptoms, the doctor can treat the cause.

While medication can relieve symptoms, it doesn’t address an underlying cause, and if a patient’s jaw problem is affecting their sleep and even causing a condition like sleep apnea, this must be addressed with more than just medication. Various therapies can help a great deal.

Sometimes jaw exercises and stretches will help with jaw pain, or often certain therapies will be the best approach to treatment. In fact, oral appliance therapy is especially effective for TMJ disorder, and it may be the best treatment for you.

With oral appliance therapy, the patient uses a simple mouthpiece that helps the jaw relax and rest naturally. The mouthpiece is very comfortable for the patient as it’s custom-made. Oral appliance therapy is proven to work and approved by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, so we’re proud to provide it here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders!

We likely do! Our clinic has multiple locations all throughout Bloomington IL, Peoria/Dunlap IL, Mishawaka IN, Kansas City MO, El Paso TX and Wausau WI, and each location has a jaw pain doctor. Please see our Locations page for the location nearest you, it’s address, and it’s phone number. Call us at that number or call our head office at (855) 977-0400 if you believe you need our services and would like a consultation with one of our jaw pain doctors. We’d be happy to speak with you and see you for any reason.

We look forward to your visit with us soon here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders!