TMJ disorder causes discomfort due to jaw joint strain, and bruxism means you grind and clench your teeth regularly. Without treatment, both of these can cause major discomfort or even damage teeth. In today’s blog, your Conroe, TX, dentist talks about how we can offer relief with oral appliance therapy.

TMJ Disorder

TMJ disorder, sometimes referred to as TMD, is an issue in which bite imbalance has strained your jaw joints. This impacts how fully you can open and close your mouth, and leads to a host of uncomfortable symptoms. For example, you could experience headaches, migraines, jaw and facial pain, and aches in the neck and shoulders. You could also experience a cracking or popping sensation in your jaw. The disorder could be caused by issues like missing teeth, injury to the face or jaw, damaged teeth, misalignment, or complications with the growth of your jaw or the eruption of your teeth.

Bruxism

Bruxism refers to chronic teeth grinding and clenching, which can wear down tooth structure to make teeth appear small or uneven, and can also crack or chip them. The damage exposes inner structure to bacteria, so tooth decay and infection can develop that further threatens your smile’s health and stability. Bruxism could be brought on by untreated TMD concerns, misalignment, lost teeth, injury, or high levels of stress in your daily life. Warning signs include jaw and facial aches, headaches and migraines, and pain in your teeth, neck, and shoulders. Without treatment, this could lead to serious trouble for your smile!

Treatment with an Oral Appliance

Both can actually be treated with a custom-made oral appliance. To begin, we swill need to gather detailed digital images of your teeth from multiple angles. We then combine these to create a 3D impression. In a dental lab, we use these impressions to design and custom-fit an oral appliance. The device is worn while you sleep, and helps reposition the jaw to prevent further symptoms. If you grind your teeth, this helps protect smiles from injury, acting as a barrier between your upper and lower sets of teeth. If your teeth are damaged, we could repair them with custom crowns, or even restore them in one visit with dental bonding or contouring.

If you have any questions about correcting bite imbalance and treating issues like TMJ disorder and bruxism, then contact our team today to learn more.

Let’s Improve the Balance of Your Smile

Our custom oral appliances offer treatment with comfort and precision, so you can avoid discomfort and risks to your overall oral health. To learn more about treating facial strain and teeth grinding, then contact The Dental Centre of Conroe in Conroe, TX by calling 936-441-4600 today.