Do you suffer from chronic headaches or have jaw pains that get worse when you wake up in the morning or open your mouth to eat? Do you have misaligned teeth? Have you considered that the solution to your woes could be straighter teeth Devon?
Misaligned teeth and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders
As mentioned earlier, your misaligned teeth may be the underlying cause of that pesky headache or neck pain that you simply cannot shift.
If you suffer from a condition known as a temporomandibular joint disorder, you may notice that your headaches, neck pain or even jaw pain is worse when you first wake up in the morning. But why?
Causes of TMJ
There is more to TMJ than recurring headaches, although headaches combined with a stiff neck and pain when you open your mouth are key features of the ailment. The exact cause can be hard to pinpoint and is often due to genetic factors, jaw injuries that have not healed correctly or arthritis.
Our team at Yealmpton Dental Practice often sees this issue more commonly in older patients. However, if you are younger and suffer from TMJ, the cause is most likely to be genetic and may be linked to the way your upper and lower jaw fit together when you close your mouth. As such, having straighter teeth Devon can go a long way towards resolving the issue and, of course, helping you get rid of the unpleasant associated symptoms.
Diagnosing TMJ
Before we can make a conclusive diagnosis, our team will need to examine your jaw sockets; if you have had an injury in the past, we may need to take some x-rays or examine those from your medical history.
In many cases, however, TMJ can be diagnosed at our Practice when we assess the symptoms that you describe and how you move your mouth and jaw into certain positions.
Our trained team will be able to physically see an issue with the jaw when you move it; it may pop out of its socket or may make a popping noise. If we suspect that you have a more extreme case of TMJ, we may order x-rays and then discuss oral surgery with a maxillofacial surgeon to help correct the misalignments.
Braces and TMJ
In many instances, however, the symptoms of TMJ can be lessened with the use of a fitted brace and arch work.
As the pain associated with TMJ is often caused by nocturnal teeth grinding (also known as bruxism), having your molars correctly aligned can help to reduce the headaches and migraines that you may have experienced every morning.
Depending on how severe the misalignments of your teeth are, you may need to wear a brace for up to 3 years and will need to retain the work and your straighter teeth Devon with the use of a retainer.
If you suspect that you are suffering from TMJ or have concerns that a family member may be, then please feel free to contact our team to book an assessment.
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