Temporomandibular Disorders

The temporomandibular joint acts like a sliding hinge , connecting your jawbone to your skull .TMD can cause pain in your jaw point and in the muscles that control jaw movement . Seek medical attention if you have persistent pain or tenderness in your jaw or if you can’t open or close your jaw completely .Treatment options range from simple self care practices and conservative treatments to injections and open surgery .It is advised to begin with conservative non- surgical therapies with surgery left as the last resort.

TMJ appliances are designed to decompress the joint which prevents the effects of teeth grinding and teeth clenching from taking place .the most common type is TMJ splint which is used as an aid to protect your teeth from grinding .

Tmj arthroscopy is done when the non invasive treatments for TMD fail to show results .In this an arthroscope is used to look inside your joint to see what is causing your problems.

Total temporomandibular joint replacement entails surgical replacement of the TMJ with a total joint prosthesis as well as orthognathic surgery .This is done in case of TMJ pathologies like articular disc dislocation , reactive arthritis , ankylosis ,trauma or congenital deformation or absence of TMJ

Low level laser therapy is said to have bio-stimulating and analgesic effects through direct irradiation .Iit utilizes electromagnetic radiation at a particular wavelength and contributes management of pain , impaired wound healing and inflammation .