Why Should I See a Dentist For TMJ or TMD?

Because the majority of TMJ disorders are caused by dental problems such as tooth grinding, misaligned teeth, and uneven tooth wear from jaw clinching, dentists specializing in neuromuscular conditions have been the primary TMJ care providers ever since the disorder became widely recognized in the 1930s.

Some medical doctors, primarily maxillofacial surgeons, perform arthroplasty and other surgical procedures designed to repair or replace damaged tissue in the jaw joint, but the success rate of these major surgeries is will under the more than 90 percent success rate of the Dental Appliance Therapy (DAT) employed by dentists. Dental Appliance Therapy also eliminates TMJ surgery’s many risks – which include, according to the Mayo Clinic, swelling, pain, bleeding, infection and, rarely, injury to the ear and facial motor nerves.

DAT, a time-tested therapy that has been successfully used for almost 80 years, is the most efficacious, least invasive, and most cost-effective method of eliminating TMJ-related pain, including headaches, and restoring normal, comfortable functionality and range-of-motion to the jaw.