Your Dentist in Syracuse Discusses How Your Mouth Impacts Your Health

With more and more information emerging about the links between oral health and overall health, we can’t emphasize enough how important your routine visits with your dentist are for maintaining your well being. One aspect of your mouth that you may not realize affects your body is your TMJ, or temporomandibular joint. When this very complex joint is not working properly it greatly affects your health. Your dentist in Syracuse discusses how TMJ impacts your health and what you can do.

What is TMJ?

Your temporomandibular joint is the important connection between your jaw and your skull. This joint is the only one in the body that allows you to move in complex directions such as forward, backward, side-to-side, open and closed. When your TMJ isn’t working correctly it can cause a host of problems for your body such as:

• Painful headaches and migraines
• Neck and shoulder pain
• Earaches
• Clicking and popping of your jaw
• Lock jaw – or your jaw becoming locked in an open or closed position
• Tender jaw muscles

These symptoms can often become very debilitating for patients, and it can greatly impact your daily activities and life.

What Causes TMJ Issues?

TMJ issues, or what’s known as temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD), can be caused by a number of different things and it varies greatly from one patient to the next. Some causes for TMD might be:

• Clenching or grinding your teeth at night, otherwise known as bruxism.
• A misaligned bite
• Stress or anxiety
• An accident or injury

How is TMD Treated?

Therapies may vary based on a patients individual needs, and your trusted team at Creative Dental Concepts will help determine what type of treatment will benefit you the most. For patients who struggle with bruxism, wearing a night guard while they sleep can be a very effective way to relieve TMD.

Sometimes orthodontics to correct a misaligned bite can be helpful in alleviating TMD. Still others may benefit from massage or learning other stress management techniques that will help eliminate anxiety.

The good news is that Dr. Craybas and Dr. Crumb are highly skilled and experienced in helping patients manage their TMD issues. We can design and fabricate customized mouth guards at Creative Dental Concepts for patients suffering from bruxism, and we work with top TMJ specialists for patients who may need further help.

Contact Creative Dental Concepts

Don’t suffer from the pain of TMD issues any longer! Contact our office today to learn more about how we can help you.