Medications: These include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which can relieve pain and swelling. These are usually recommended only for short-term use. If these don’t provide relief, doctors may prescribe muscle relaxers. They may also suggest medications that help control nerve pain. Other tmj treatment include PRP, AMPP and BMAC, which use regenerative cells to stimulate healing.
Orthodontic Treatment
Orthodontics can straighten your teeth, easing chewing and speech problems caused by an uneven bite. It may also help relieve TMJ pain.
Your provider may use a needle to push liquid into your jaw joint (arthrocentesis). This flushes out the area and can remove scar-like tissue that causes inflammation. This treatment isn’t proven to help, but it does sometimes improve symptoms.
A procedure called arthroscopy lets your provider see inside the joint by inserting a thin tube with a camera (or “arthroscope”). Your doctor can then reshape bone, remove or reposition the disk, or repair a damaged ligament or tendon.
In some cases, your doctor might suggest a special injection to encourage the joint to heal itself (prolotherapy). This involves injecting a solution into the joint that causes irritation, which triggers the body to repair the joint. This treatment has shown some promise, but it’s still being studied. Other treatments include avoiding clenching and grinding your teeth, using mouth guards at night if you grind your teeth, and stress reduction techniques such as meditation and yoga.
Mouth Guard
The temporomandibular joints (TMJs) are the 2 matching joints in front of each ear that allow your lower jaw to move up and down, side to side, forward and back. When these muscles and joints are healthy, they function smoothly to perform chewing, talking, yawning, and swallowing activities.
Problems can develop when you clench or grind your teeth, tightening the jaw muscles and stressing the joint. TMJ disorders can also occur if the cushion that separates the TM joint is worn away or damaged.
Treatment options vary depending on the diagnosis of your TMD. Generally, conservative treatments are tried first. These may include mouth guards, occlusal splints, and/or reducing teeth clenching/grinding. Medications (usually NSAIDs like ibuprofen, muscle relaxants, or anti-anxiety medications) are often prescribed as well. A medical-grade thermo polymer is used to create custom mouthguards that are activated with hot water to create a comfortable, custom fit for your teeth. Typically, these splints are used on the upper or lower teeth (maxillary splints or mandibular splints) and are designed for people suffering from TMD, bruxism, sleep apnea, etc.
Physical Therapy
There are two temporomandibular joints (TMJs) located on each side of your head just in front of your ears. They work together when you open and close your mouth, chew, or speak. Your physical therapist will examine the way your jaw moves when you do these activities and assess the quality of the movement and your bite occlusion (the alignment of your teeth).
They may use manual therapy to help relieve stiffness and improve joint mobility by placing their hands on your neck and jaw muscles. They will also teach you exercises to stretch your facial muscles and to strengthen your jaw muscles. They may also suggest ways to modify your lifestyle, such as avoiding hard foods and chewing gum, using relaxation techniques to reduce stress, and avoiding sleeping in positions that put pressure on the TMJ.
Medications might be part of your treatment plan as well, including pain relievers and anti-inflammatories. Muscle relaxants, such as amitriptyline, can be used for a short time to decrease tightness of muscle tissues. Corticosteroid injections can be helpful for reducing inflammation in the joint and improving function.
Surgery
TMJ patients often have pain and other symptoms that require the attention of a health care provider, dentist, or ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist. Some of these symptoms include neck aches, ear ache, headache, fatigue, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), depression and anxiety, sleep problems and jaw clicking or locking.
Some patients with severe TMD need surgery to change the shape of the joint (arthroplasty) or replace a damaged disk (arthroscopy). Penn oral and maxillofacial surgeons are specially trained in these procedures and can offer these options to their patients.
We will always exhaust the most conservative and reversible treatments before moving on to more aggressive solutions. These may include a custom-made splint, bite correction, or physical therapy. In some cases, we may recommend regenerative medicine, such as PRP, AMPP, or BMAC. These procedures use your own healing cells to promote regeneration of the jaw and reduce pain and swelling. They are also minimally invasive.