TMJ / TMD in Corpus Christi

TMJ is an acronym for “temporomandibular joint”. Everyone has two TMJ joints. They are the jaw joints, one on each side of your head that work in unison to open and close your mouth. But usually when we hear “TMJ”, we think of someone who has pain or clicking and popping in their jaw. Technically, this problem is referred to as Temporomandibular Joint Disorder or TMD, but for simplicity’s sake, we'll stick to calling it TMJ.

The trouble with TMJ develops in childhood as a result of the habit of mouth breathing. The child breathes through his or her mouth because of asthma or allergies that make breathing through their nose too difficult. Because the jaw is held open, the jaw and teeth grow without the contradictory force that would normally help to direct their growth. For instance, the tongue should usually rest in contact with the roof of the mouth and should do the same during a swallow. When it does so, it puts pressure on the upper arch of your mouth, called the maxilla. This pressure counterbalances the forces of the muscles in your cheeks (the buccinators muscles). This is important when children are growing in their teeth because the teeth will naturally grow in the arch formed by the tongue and the maxilla. If the child is a mouth breather, the formation of the roof of the mouth, the teeth, the jaw, and the cranium itself all can be compromised in relationship to one another, thus leading to TMJ disorder.

The TMJ joint is an integral part of the human body. All of the air, food, and water that we consume through our mouth passes through this system of bones, tendons, nerves, and muscles. The TMJ system is like a radio antenna. Radio antennas have a lot of guide wires holding them in position. If one of those guide wires is pulling too much, or is slacking, there is undue stress on the other guide wires, and eventually the tower will begin to lean. When there is an imbalance in our TMJ joints, there can be dire consequences because other systems, such as the spinal cord, need to accommodate the stress in the TMJ.

TMJ symptoms range from a seemingly harmless click in the jaw to debilitating, migraine-like TMJ headaches, to sleep apnea which, in turn, can cause stroke or congestive heart failure.  TMJ treatment is critical to restore the balance to the bite.