TMJ Disorders

What is TMJ Disorder?

When the jaw joints and muscles surrounding the jawbone don’t align, pain and clicking sounds often occur along the connecting joint between the skull and lower jawbone. TMJ disorders are a family of conditions that face problems with the temporomandibular joint. Misaligned bites, arthritis, torn ligaments, and other diseases can often cause TMJ disorder. This disorder means that you constantly experience trouble opening your mouth, pain while chewing or speaking, and constant clicking noises along the jaw joint.

Most of all, this form of jaw joint dysfunction can cause problems with mobility and function and can greatly impede your oral health and quality of life. However, because of the complexity of this condition, most dentists and orthodontists will recommend conservative treatment to help relieve TMJ pain and joint problems, including mouthguards, muscle relaxants, trigger-point injections, and non-steroidal inflammatory drugs.

Conservative treatments for TMJ disorders can be effective for some patients. At University Oral Surgery Center, our surgical team will work with you to provide you with the most optimal treatments to resolve your joint problems and help relieve TMJ pain. However, when the strategies mentioned above fail to treat your TMJ disorder, then we may recommend oral surgery as a way to heal problems with jaw joint dysfunction.

Our Surgical Options Available For TMJ Treatment

Your initial consultation with our team at our office will provide you with multiple options for treating your condition. At University Oral Surgery Center, we work under the guidance of Dr. Shabtaie to provide both non-surgical and surgical options for treatment, including:

• Occlusal Equilibration: Often provided by orthodontists and oral surgeons, our team can provide occlusal equilibration to alter the upper and lower teeth along the jawline to fit the proper anatomical location of your mouth. The teeth can fit together through this procedure and provide harmony between the teeth and jawline to prevent further damage and breakdown.
• Joint Arthrocentesis: This minimally invasive procedure flushes the joint space with sterile solutions and injects the area with corticosteroids or lubricants to enable pain-free jaw movement for those suffering from TMJ disorder.
• Total Joint Arthroscopy: Total Joint Arthroscopy uses minimally invasive procedures to remove damaged or inflamed tissues and also works to realign the articular discs within the jawbone to form better alignment.
• Total Joint Arthroplasty: As a more complex surgery, arthroplasty works through an open-joint method, removing the arthritic or damaged bone and replacing the bone with a prosthesis. This procedure works to realign the structures of the jaw and mouth to work in harmony and treat damage caused by arthritic conditions.
• Orthognathic Surgery: Orthognathic surgery aligns the top and bottom jawbones to the correct proportions and helps regain facial aesthetics and potentially relieve jaw pain.

As a specialist in treating jaw conditions, Dr. Shabtaie has years of medical experience successfully helping patients find relief from TMJ disorder. Contact our oral surgery center today to arrange an appointment for more information about our services.