Quite often, those patients with TMJ issues feel they do not know where to put their teeth together as they feel they have no “home” for their bite. Many of these patients will also have noticed changes in the height of their faces or even facial asymmetry. When these types of TMJ changes have occurred, conventional use of porcelain veneers will not correct the problem. These types of cases can be treated with jaw alignment first then using veneers and onlays to build the teeth to the corrected physiologic position.
Properly aligning the jaw ensures correct distribution of forces that allows for your teeth to meet in a place that is comfortable for the muscles, neck, and jaw joints. This can help correct and prevent headaches, locking jaw joints, jaw pain, neck, and even ear pain. This is six dimensional realignment.
Utilizing advanced physiologic bite management allows for changes in the facial symmetry and even changes the lower one third of the face which is essentially a non-surgical facelift.
Essentially porcelain veneers can be used for:
- Pure Cosmetic Dentistry which does not change the bite
- Some minor bite alignment TMJ pain
For Cosmetic Dentistry.veneers are used to change the smile and sometimes change the alignment of the front teeth, instant orthodontics. With bite alignment, TMJ issues can be treated and the back teeth are most often involved too. This improves facial and muscle alignment as well as also provides solid “home” for ones bite. Computerized methods are used and not just guessing. Additionally 3D scans of the head, neck, and jaws provides further information.
In overview, porcelain veneers can help with minor bite changes and cannot be used alone to treat overbite/underbites or TMJ problems. These can, however, be treated non-surgically with advanced treatment protocols.
If you have questions about Non-surgical TMJ Treatment or Porcelain Veneers, please feel free to contact our office, Ronald Konig DDS, FAGD, LVIF, 713-668-2289.
