TMJ Treatment in Boynton Beach, FL
If you find yourself struggling to open and close your mouth properly, you could suffer from a condition known as temporomandibular joint dysfunction or TMJ. TMJ is a serious condition related to jaw function that different dental health issues and other factors can cause. If this sounds like your issue, you may need to find a TMJ dentist near you.
A TMJ specialist near you will have the tools and treatments to correct the problem or reduce the symptoms until the underlying cause can be determined and treated. The problem with TMJ and why you should visit your dentist in Boynton Beach right away is that it can eventually make it so that you cannot move your jaw at all, leading to serious health risks aside from a locked jaw and also making it harder to treat.
What Causes TMJ?
Many different things can cause TMJ; depending on the cause, the dentist or TMJ specialist will have a different type of treatment.
One of the most common ways a person winds up with TMJ is from injury to the jaw. If the jaw joints suffer a sudden impact, they may be knocked out of place, and this will cause the jaw to get stuck in an unnatural position, along with inflammation and severe pain. The treatment for this condition is for the dentist to reset the jaw manually. This means placing their hands in the patient’s mouth, finding the jaw joints, and realigning them by hand. This is usually a quick but painful fix; patients should immediately see symptom relief.
Another reason you may need TMJ treatment in Boynton Beach is due to tension of the muscles in the jaw that effectively causes the jaw to lock up. This can be treated in many ways, including a specialized mouth guard to prevent nighttime clenching, BOTOX® injections to release the muscles, and possibly oral surgery.