TMJ, What Really Causes this TMJ Pain?

Treating TMJ pain really involves more than just the jaw joints. Believe it or not, how you swallowing or how you swallow is one such major factor that is often overlooked and impairs proper TMJ treatment from resolving. In fact, swallowing disorders may lead to serious health issues.

Most people, including dentists, do not realize that dental problems  and TMJ problems extend beyond the mouth and can affect their entire body including their health!

Some problems that arise from swallowing disorders are :

-malformed dental arches

-crooked teeth

-ear pain

-open bites

-underbites

-overbites

-poor development and growth

-grinding

-drooling

-Posture problems

-TMJ pain

-Sleep apnea

-difficulty chewing and more…

This is one several reasons teeth relapse after orthodontic treatment and also a reason that bite problems arise.

It can be treated and corrected with proper myofunctional therapy in conjunction with other dental treatments.  Working with patients to correct their swallowing methods has been proven to help long term stabilization of many of the problems listed above.

Additionally, it is important to recognize that aberrant swallow habits are often a result of airway problems.  Oxygen is king!  Some patients have tonsils, deviated septums, adenoids,  enlarged turbinates and more.   This inhibits proper breathing and oxygen intake which in turn can lead to mouthbreathing.  Todays world exposes people to pollutants and many allergens causing indiviudals to breathe through their mouths as opposed to their nose.  This in turn also causes swallowing issues and poor dental development and can lead to TMJ problems. Mouthbreathing is causes a host of problems including health issues,

It is not possible to completely cover this complex topic in a blog.  The purpose of this blog is to bring awareness to the issue as opposed to being a treatise on the subject.

If you have questions about TMJ Houston or Houston TMJ Dentist, please feel free to contact our office, Ronald W. Konig DDS, FAGD, LVIF  713-668-2289.

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