Is TMJ a Medical or Dental Condition?

Professionals actually aren’t entirely sure what causes TMJ disorder, but some cases may be caused by unhealthy habits or trauma. If you suspect you have TMJ disorder, then it might be because you:

– Are chewing gum excessively, biting your nails, or clenching your jaw a lot, which can put excessive pressure on the TMJ
– Have a misaligned or dislocated TMJ due to a blow to the jaw or cheek area
– Have teeth damage from clenching or grinding
– Have misaligned teeth
– Are suffering from an effect of whiplash
– Have osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis in your TMJ

There might be a different reason you’re having issues with your TMJ. We can help you determine the cause and nature of your condition here at our clinic, and then we can provide the appropriate treatment.

TMJ disorder is a dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint. This means it’s a jaw joint condition, but there may be a medical or dental condition causing the disorder, like the aforementioned arthritis or teeth damage. Aging or genetics may be factors. As you can tell, TMJ disorder is a bit complicated because there could be different factors involved and different conditions causing it. Once one of our professionals has examined your particular case of jaw pain/TMJ disorder, we’ll be able to provide you with a better answer as to what could be causing it. We’ll also be able to treat it very effectively!

Simple jaw pain or minor cases of TMJ disorder can be treated with TMJ stretches and exercises. The stretches will help reduce joint and muscle tension to relieve your pain during a flare up and help you manage the pain over the long term. Massages and exercises can help too. There are many different strengthening exercises that can strengthen your TMJ for long-term symptom relief. All of these stretches and exercises are taught by our professionals here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders. They can also provide a long-lasting treatment for more serious cases of TMJ disorder. The treatment is oral appliance therapy.

This kind of therapy is proven to work. With oral appliance therapy, the conditions that cause TMJ disorder, like misaligned teeth, are addressed. In many cases, patients experience symptom reduction of 90% which can be life-changing. There’s a very good chance you’ll have a similar experience with oral appliance therapy.

Because the treatment is proven to work and approved by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, we’re proud to be able to provide it to you here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders.

Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders has many locations in Bloomington IL, Peoria/Dunlap IL, Mishawaka IN, Kansas City MO, El Paso TX and Wausau WI. We’d like to refer you to our Locations page for our locations’ addresses and contact information, and on that page you can book a consultation with us. You can also book with us by calling our head office. In your consultation, we’ll assess your particular case of jaw pain/disorder and then proceed accordingly. We look forward to speaking with and seeing you soon!