TMJD Demystified: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Options

1
TMJD Demystified Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
Options
Stock Research Investment Advisor
2

• About Highland Park Physiotherapy

• Our team of experienced therapists focus on
  providing an excellent standard of care that
  helps to find the root cause and help you to
  alleviate your pain and assist you to resume your
  pre-injury functional level. We treat the cause,
  not just the symptoms.
• If you have a Motor Vehicle Accident, sports
  injury, aches and pains or even just have some
  questions, our experienced physiotherapists are
  here to help you.
• Our primary goal is achieving the safest and
  fastest recovery for our clients getting them
  back to their pre-injury functional level.

3

• TMJ (Tempero-Mandibular Joint Disorder)

• TMJ stands for Tempero-Mandibular Joint Disorder
  which is your jaw joint. The Tempero-Mandibular
  joint is formed by the mandible or jaw bone,
  joining with the temporal bone of the skull, just
  below and in front of the ear. Disorders of the
  TMJ are often referred to as TMJ or
  Tempero-Mandibular Joint Disorder or TMJ
  Dysfunction.
• Your TMJs (jaw joints) are involved with eating,
  talking, breathing and, probably most
  importantly, expressing our feelings and
  emotions. When things go wrong with your TMJ it
  is known as Tempero-Mandibular Joint Disorder
  (TMJ)

4

• How is TMJ Dysfunction Diagnosed?

• TMJ Dysfunction can be diagnosed by your TMJ
  physiotherapist, a physiotherapist with advanced
  training in jaw dysfunction, your dental
  practitioner or oral maxillofacial surgeon.
• TMD is a clinical movement dysfunction diagnosis.
  
• They may recommend dental X-rays, CT scan or MRI
  to further investigate your condition.

5

• TMJ Dysfunction Symptoms

• You may or may not experience jaw pain or
  tenderness with TMJ dysfunction. The most common
  symptoms include
• Jaw clicking
• Jaw popping
• Grinding
• Limited jaw opening, or jaw deviation while
  opening (which you can observe in a mirror)
• Inability to fully clench your jaw.

6

• What Causes TMJ Disorder?

• TMJ dysfunction is considered a multifaceted
  musculo-skeletal disorder. The most common causes
  of TMD include
• Masticatory muscle dysfunction,
• Derangement/displacement of TMJ articular disc
• Bruxism nocturnal grinding of teeth leads to
  increased pressure in TMJ and asymmetrical
  movement.

7

• Contributory Factors include

• Mandibular malalignment secondary to occlusal
  appliance or orthodontic treatment.
• Removal of wisdom teeth,
• Prolonged mouth opening e.g. dental procedure,
• Poor cervical posture,
• Myofascial pain,
• Neuropsychological factors,
• Stress, and Whiplash and other less common causes
  include trauma (e.g., blow to the chin),
  infection, polyarthritis conditions, tumors, and
  anatomical abnormalities

8

• What is TMJ Treatment?

• After your TMJ assessment your physiotherapist
  will commence corrective treatment. TMJ
  physiotherapy is normally very successful for the
  treatment of TMJ opening disorders due to the
  problem being a movement disorder that is
  affected by you r muscle and joint control.
• Your dentist is usually involved in the
  management of TMJ closing disorders such as
  bruxism due to the addition of teeth occlusion.
  In some cases, an occlusion splint or bite plate
  may be recommended.

9

• TMJ Dysfunction What to Avoid?

• Until you seek the advice of your TMJ
  physiotherapist we recommend to AVOID following
• Uncontrolled, wide-opening eg. Yawning,
• Biting hard foods eg. carrots, apples,
• Eating burgers or hard rolls,
• Chewing gum,
• Nail biting,
• Jaw leaning,
• Stress, and
• Clenching pens, pencils, pipes or cigars.

10

• Contact Us

HIGHLAND PARK PHYSIOTHERAPY CLINIC Unit
4325, 4303 Centre Street NW Calgary T2E 2Z1,
Canada [phone]
office_at_highlandparkphysio.ca
https//www.highlandparkphysio.ca