Teeth Clenching and Jaw Pain
For a person with a TMJ syndrome, teeth grinding, teeth clenching, locked jaw, and jaw pain are often daily and painful reminders that all is not right. By far, these are not the only TMJ symptoms, but these are frequent symptoms of a problem with you TM joint.
You may have gone undiagnosed for a long time due to the fact that this disorder is notoriously difficult to diagnose. There are many different culprits for each of those symptoms, and all too often TMJ is not high on the list of things to check for. More recognized symptoms of TMJ are tension and pain in the muscles of the jaw, painful headaches and neck pain, back pain and ear pain, and even migraines. If you grind your teeth or clench them, perhaps when asleep, this only serves to aggravate the condition and increase the pain.
There are some solutions if you have one of these symptoms of TMJ. One of the most popular and easiest ways to cure teeth grinding and jaw clenching is by using dental mouth guards or mouth splints. These are often custom made to form fit your mouth by your dentist and can relieve tension in your TM joints when you are sleeping. There are full mouth guards which fit on your upper teeth, and there are also the popular NTI which is only worn on the front upper teeth. These are much more comfortable then their full mouth counterparts. If you use them regularly, and regularity is the key, they will alleviate the symptoms and even cure the problem all together. For many the have had a very rate of success for curing jaw clenching.
Do not self diagnose yourself. There are many causes of TMJ, and the symptoms may or may not tell you what exactly is wrong. Stress and other environmental issues can often cause similar symptoms. Always consult your doctor or dentist for an informed (hopefully) opinion.
Related posts:
- TMJ Symptoms TMJ disorder is a complex and painful condition. TMJ Symptoms...
June 19th, 2009 at 12:11 am
A few years back a dentist I went to told me that I must be brushing my teeth too hard because the top surface of my teeth was worn down.
He went into this whole training thing about how not to brush my teeth.
A year or two later, I found out (from a much better dentist) that the problem was that I was grinding my teeth in my sleep, and I got one of those mouth guards you mentioned.
I hope by now most dentist’s would not make such an ignorant diagnosis, but you never know …