Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) is a complex, poorly understood set of conditions characterized by a wide range of symptoms impacting the jaw joint and surrounding tissues. According to the TMJ Association, over 30 million Americans have TMJ – ranging from mild discomfort – to severe and debilitating pain that completely interferes with normal functioning. If you’re experiencing jaw pain and limited movement, you may have TMJ, although a few medical conditions can mimic its symptoms. TMJ joints reside in the front of your ears and connect your lower jaw bone (the mandible) to the temporal bones of the skull on each side of your head. The muscles controlling the TMJ joints allow your jaw to move up and down, side to side, and forward and back. This movement enables eating, speaking, laughing, and even proper breathing. While TMJ is no longer seen as a condition that solely impacts the jaws and teeth, a highly skilled dentist with knowledge of this complex disorder can provide personalized and effective treatment. At Pearl Dental Associates, we offer customized TMJ treatment in Scituate and Holbrook, MA to help you find the relief you need and resume living a pain-free life.
An occlusal splint is a type of customized oral appliance that you’ll wear to bed every night. The splint is created at a dental lab from digital impressions we take of your teeth and jaw. The splint works by slightly adjusting your jaw into a more relaxed orientation, thereby allowing the surrounding muscles to heal. Over time, your jaw will adapt and stay in this new and more functional position. After a few weeks or months of consistent use, you should be able to get through the day completely symptom free. We’ll monitor you to see if the splint needs adjustments, ensure it is alleviating issues, and that it isn’t negatively altering your bite.
If we determine that you’re grinding and clenching your teeth, we may recommend a custom-made mouthguard. Although these are often worn at night, we can also create one for daytime use to protect your teeth whenever you clench or grind. Similar to a sports guard, these oral appliances are specifically made to fit snuggly over your teeth and provide a barrier between your top and bottom teeth. 
A misaligned bite is often the underlying root cause of TMJ pain because the orientation of the teeth prevents the muscles in the face and jaw from fully relaxing, thereby leading to tension and pain. To resolve this, we can slightly reshape a few key teeth to help your bite come together correctly and enable your jaw to attain its natural resting position. This simple procedure typically only requires removing a few millimeters of enamel to achieve sustained pain relief and doesn’t impact the appearance of your smile.
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