| Dr. Ronald Widen
TMJ
Have you been suffering from migraines or headaches?
Do you have neck aches, back aches or shoulder aches?
Does your jaw crackle, click or pop?
Do you have jaw pain, facial pain, dizziness or tinnitus?
Are your symptoms caused by an improper bite?
You may have a jaw joint problem or TMD.
TMJ or more properly TMJ dysfunction or TMD affects the joints of your jaws and can affect your entire body. It has been coined the “Great Impostor” because its symptoms mimic many other issues, such as headaches, migraines, ear infections, among a few. It can be very debilitating and can be treated non-surgically in our office. Medications just mask the symptoms, they do nothing for the root cause of your problem.
In many instances the problems start soon after birth. Breast-feeding starts the child down a good path. This negative pressure while feeding allows for the proper formation of the palate. The pressures allow for the proper forward growth of the mid face and good width of the palate allows space for the tongue. The upper arch is formed by the tongue on the roof of the mouth in balance with the lip and cheek muscles. The most important thing is to breathe through your nose.
Once a child starts to breathe through their mouth because of a change in diet or allergies, there is a tendency for the jaws to change shape making it harder to breathe through the nose and causing an airway constriction, because there is inadequate room for the tongue. This constriction causes less air getting to vital structures leads to sleep-disordered breathing causing a myriad of issues from bed wetting to behavior problems. If this progresses through life the body will alter head posture to allow adequate breathing and the early TMJ problems begin.
In this time of uncertainty we have more stress and more stress can lead to clenching and grinding also. Our goal is to help you change these habits and reposition your jaw orthopedically to allow you to breathe through your nose and allow for healing.
Our treatment is based or orthopedic principles of rehabilitation and will let the joint heal in a new more physiologic position and correct the poor jaw/skull relationship. Please click on the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment links to the other areas to see if your conditions match and see how we diagnose and treat the problem and not just mask the symptoms.
TMD treatment can improve the way you feel. Ask us for more information about TMD treatment today by calling our Chicago dental office at 312-266-0044.
