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Temporomandibular joint (TMJ)
TMJ Treatment in London, UK
If you're suffering from discomfort or pain due to Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) disorders, finding expert care is essential. In the UK, TMJ treatment is available from experienced specialists who can help alleviate your symptoms.
Whether you're seeking a TMJ specialist or a TMJ doctor in London, you'll find highly skilled professionals ready to provide personalised care at Dental Clinic London.
Our TMJ dentists offer advanced treatment options to restore comfort and function to your jaw for helping you get back to living pain-free.
What is a TMJ disorder?
Temporomandibular joint is that hinge connecting your jaw to the skull. It allows the left and right and up and down movement of your jaw, enabling you to talk, chew or yawn. Problems occurring in this particular area of the skull are known as temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Such disorders are also sometimes called TMJ dysfunction, indicating problems in the temporomandibular joint.
The occurrence of pain this particular part of your jaw is quite common. Nearly 30 percent of adults tend to experience this condition at some point of their life. However, this pain usually goes away on its own.
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Contact UsWhat causes TMJ disorder?
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An unbalanced bite
Uneven and bad bites, early tooth contacts, severe underbite or overbite, cross bites, deep bites are the some causes of TMJ disorder. A bad bite may result from tooth loss, thumb sucking, trauma to the teeth, and airway problems.
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Growth discrepancy
The timings and genetic skeletal anatomy of growth can cause assymetries in the jaw joint. Misalignment of the ligaments, muscles and bones can also cause TMJ later in life.
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Trauma, injury or impact
A serious impact on the head or body can affect the muscles and joints in your neck, face and head. This may cause TMJ and its side effects, such as pain, discomfort and irritation.
Sometimes even a faint of fall could start a problem with the bite and or TMJ.
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Unbalanced dental treatment
Orthodontic and dental treatments which cause asymmetry in the mouth may affect your bite, resulting in TMJ problems. Such as a crown that is very high or a brace that moved some of the back teeth into the bite path.
Symptoms of TMJ disorder
- Tension headaches
- Teeth clenching
- Face and jaw pain
- Difficulty in chewing
- Shoulder and neck pain
- Migraines
- Teeth grinding during sleep and reduced quality of sleep
- Clicking when closing or opening the jaws
- Locking if the jaw
- Ear fullness and hearing noises
These symptoms usually worsen during periods of anxiety, stress or tension. When stressed, many people grind or clench their teeth while sleeping. This puts a lot of pressure on the jaw joint, causing disharmony in the joints and surrounding muscles. This results in the above symptoms.
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Contact UsWhy do jaw joint problems occur?
Although the classification of TMJ disorders is not that easy, the main reason for such disorders basically lies in the joint itself, its associated muscles, or within the cartilage. However, note that you must get your jaws checked once you experience pain, a clicking sensation or restricted movement.
Several issues might lead to your jaw joint problems, such as:
- Osteoarthritis: This condition affects your jaw joint in the same way just like any other joint of your body. It wears off or damages the cartilage which supports your joint like a cushion does. This ultimately leads to pain and inflammation.
- Inflammatory arthritis: Conditions like rheumatoid arthritis might also affect your jaw joint.
- Traumatic injury: Trauma might cause damage to your bones of the joint or affect your cartilage disc as well. This interferes with your upper and lower jaw alignment.
- Bruxism: If you are in a habit of clenching or grinding your teeth, it can lead to your jaw pain, noticeable clicking, and complications in opening your mouth properly.
TMJ Treatment at Dental Clinic London
Our in-practice treatments for TMJ disorders (TMD)
As most of the TMJ disorders can be cured without the need of surgery. You can get the least invasive and easiest solutions at the initial stage of your TMJ disfunction. If you fail to get sufficient improvement from your condition, our TMJ doctor in London will create a plan and advise another treatment suitable for you.
- Customised mouth guards: Mouth guards are custom made to fit perfectly in your mouth, and they work by reducing the pressure while grinding or biting.
- Drug treatments: Some common drugs to treat your TMJ disorders include anaesthesia, anti-inflammatories, painkillers, muscle relaxers or anti-depressants.
Surgical Options for TMJ
If you are facing persistent, severe issues with TMJ, you can contact our TMJ specialist in London to know your treatment options.
- Arthrocentesis: Arthrocentesis is a process of washing out your joint. We use small needles containing fluids to directly insert into your joint, and wash away any debris leading to pain with the help of that fluid.
- TENS: TENS uses an electrical pulse to massage your facial muscles to treat your TMJ disorders.
- Arthroscopy: Arthroscopy is equally effective as open joint surgery. Our surgeons make a small incision in your joint and insert a thin tube called arthroscope through that incision. This tube consists of fibre optics including a light and a camera which helps the surgeon to operate. Our surgeons also make sure to make minimal invasion while working on this procedure with small instruments.
- Open joint surgery: In case your problem is structural, open joint surgery is the only option there. You are put under a general anaesthesia while making an incision to expose your jaw joint. At this point, our surgeon focuses on repairing or repositioning any problem with your joint by repairing bony substances. The surgeon might also require inserting an artificial replacement in case your joint hinge has undergone permanent damage or alteration which leads to permanent hindrance for movement. Unlike other surgeries, this procedure involves more risks than other options. Consider discussing with our experts at Dental Clinic London regarding this procedure.
If you are getting jaw pain, book a consultation with any of our TMJ experts at Dental Clinic London to undergo proper assessment and look into your treatment options. Book you appointment today with our expert TMJ dentist in London.
What to expect from your appointment?
At Dental Clinic London, our dentists use different methods to look for TMJ issues:
- Full Dental Examination: Includes checking for swelling, tenderness or clicking noises in your jaw joint.
- Medical History Review: Involves discussing your ongoing symptoms and related concerns such as jaw pain or teeth grinding.
- Range of Motion Assessment: Evaluating the opening and closing of your jaw.
- Imaging: CT scans and X-rays are also done, if necessary. This gives a detailed view of your joint and surrounding structures.
- Solutions: Tailoring treatment plan to relieve your TMJ pain and related symptoms to offer long term solutions.
For TMJ treatment in London, you can now get expert solutions including TMJ dysfunction and jaw pain treatments at Dental Clinic London.
TMJ treatment cost at Our Clinic
The cost of TMJ treatment depends on the severity of the conditions. Our TMJ specialist will examine your bite and teeth during your initial consultation to determine your condition’s severity. A custom-made basic bite guard is suitable for many patients, but for more severe conditions or when the jaw joint clicks, a more specialised hard acrylic bite guard made specifically for the patient is necessary.
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Contact UsCare at Dental Clinic London
A visit to an experienced dental professional is the first step to treating TMJ disorder. During your initial consultation, the dental professional may also diagnose separate, symptomatic or causal oral conditions that need treatment.
Our dental professional will also consider other possible jaw conditions in your case to ensure effective treatment planning. If TMJ is the main issue, we will offer excellent care and treatment focused on minimum intervention to achieve an effective result.
TMJ disorder can cause pain, loss of jaw function, and issues affecting other body parts. The discomfort may affect core functions such as speaking and eating, so early and effective treatment is important.
Good oral function is essential to enjoying a healthy life. If you experience any TMJ disorder symptoms, contact Dental Clinic London at [email protected] or 020 7183 0527 to book an appointment with our dental professional.
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Contact UsFrequently asked questions
About 1 in 10 people in the UK suffer from long term jaw joint problems. 8 out of 10 people suffer from TMJ problems at some point in their lives. Due to trauma, stress or grinding. This condition is slightly more common in women than in men.
In the majority of cases it can be helped and reduced, but some cases are more complex such as arthritis or permanent dislocated TMJ discs.
The main causes of TMJ disorders are stress or previous trauma related and result on clenching and grinding.
It is possible to alleviate these issues and by choosing an appropriate and carefully planned treatment you can help to correct the TMJ problem.
Yes there is. You can undergo treatment for TMJ disorder at Dental Clinic London. Our highly trained dentists have a special interest and deep understanding of the TMJ.
We have successfully treated hundreds of patients to lead a more comfortable life with pain, clicking and tooth problems reduced or even in some many cases eradicated.
In general most of you will have no serious effects if you don't treat TMJ disorder, but will have pain and discomfort, this can result in feelings of anxiety and sometimes depression.
In rare cases this pain and anatomical discrepancies can be so bad that it reduce the ability to function normally. This is why preventative measures can, in some cases be better for you.
TMJ disorder can be a condition that comes and goes due to stressful events. Yet a minority of cases it is a condition that is lifelong until the bite is corrected.
An even smaller minority of people have problems in the jaw joint that are so damaged they need longterm management and rarely surgery.
Luckily we have the referral pathways and knowledge to help if you suffer from such a severe problem.
TMJ disorder is both a dental and medical problem. As it can originate from psychological stress and trauma, muscular dysfunction in the upper neck and from bite imbalance and unconscious habits.
Yes, they are. Mouthguards are the least invasive treatment option for TMJ pain. However, you cannot wear your mouthguard at all times. Dentists recommend wearing them at night to prevent further teeth grinding and aid better sleeping.
Most patients need a custom-made soft guard. In more severe cases, or when clicking jaw joint occurs, a hard acrylic bite guard is custom-made for the bite, and teeth are necessary.
Hard mouth guards or splints are generally recommended for you at this clinic as it gives the most dependable results.
There isn’t a specific treatment duration for TMJ, but it takes about 1 – 3 months to stop experiencing pain. Therapies like facial heat massage, specific jaw exercises, stress reduction exercises and massaging can help provide instant relief.
Habit and psychological training and help may be needed to help you deal with stress and it's effect on your TMJ.
In many cases long term check ups and reviews are necessary.
In a few cases, the pain may resolve without treatment, but in most cases, treatment is necessary.
- Your symptoms are not responding to conservative TMJ treatments.
- Your daily life is affected by TMJ pain, including your ability to eat or drink.
- You are experiencing severe jaw pain persistently.
Some kinds of TMJ surgery, especially those which are more invasive like jaw joint replacement, can affect the shape of your face. However, the purpose of modern medical technology is to fix your TMJ problems by creating the closest look of your existing facial structure for your jaw joint. It ensures that you get minimal visible changes on your face after the surgery.
While TMJ arthroscopy is a minor surgery, several other TMJ operations like jaw joint replacements are major procedures. Such surgeries typically require greater downtime and longer recovery.
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