Got TMJ?? (Part III)

So, now that we have identified what TMD is, what causes it, or what predisposes a person to manifest symptoms??  (You’ll have to forgive me if I get a bit passionate about this–I’ve spent a professional lifetime studying occlusion!)

Occlusion is not extensively studied in dental schools, but I have come to understand that occlusion, or the science of understanding how teeth, muscles and jawjoints all work in concert, is virtually the foundation of most significant dental problems.  That is, short of swilling sodas all day.  If you’re sipping sodas all day, you can brush after every sip and go right on having cavities.  (It’s the law!! 8^)  We’ll leave that whole “Money Pit Mouth” subject to another day.  But I digress…………

It may be well to talk about signs vs. symptoms at this point.  Signs, just like signs on the road, indicate something is about to come up, like “curves ahead”, “reduce speed”, etc.  You get my drift.  Ignoring signs often leads to untoward consequences. 

With dental conditions where TMD may be a factor, these are some of the signs:  Worn, chipped, or “short” teeth; (some wear is expected but if it’s “age-inappropriate” it’s a concern); nose and chin coming closer together, (“short” lower face) and creases deepening at the corners of the mouth; “notching” or “ditching ” at the necks of the teeth; receding gums; cracked teeth; broken fillings; crowns coming off; and unexplained isolated bone loss around individual  teeth.

Symptoms are the events or feelings you are actually experiencing, like:  pops, clicks or grinding “sandy” sounds in the jaw joints; difficulty with big bites, like a Hero sandwich; limited range of motion, like difficulty looking over your shoulder in traffic without turning your whole body; ear problems such as recurrent earaches, ringing, buzzing or stuffiness; head, neck, shoulder and back pain or stiffness, and snoring and sleep apnea.

Since much of this is not typically covered in the curriculum in dental schools, many dentists are unsure of what to do, if anything,  regarding these observations.  In fact, these subtleties may not even be in their stream of consciousness as significant signs.  I find in my work with teaching dentists, that there is a lot of confusion about occlusion, so they just get frustrated and tend to downplay it in their practice.  “There’s so much controversy and difference of opinion on this, that I just don’t want to get involved.”  It was precisely this kind of reasoning that led me to get involved!  I took my first course on occlusion in 1973.  The week before I took it, no one in my practice had an occlusal problem.  The Monday after I came back to work, I was amazed at what I saw.  Once a mind is exposed to a new idea, it never returns to its original shape!   

That’s about enough for this post.  Anyone out there suffering with any of this?  Been to your ENT doctor and he can’t find anything wrong with your ears??  Been to your chiropractor and the pain just keeps recurring?  Repeated massages don’t seem to help?  Maybe it’s time to dig deeper!!

Dr. R.