Dental Implant Surgery Helps Arkansas Salesman Find Confidence Again
by Dr. Scott Bolding | September 21, 2021
Problem: The Pain of a TMJ Disorder
Everyday people across the country deal with the affect a TMJ disorder has on their life. They live with the common symptoms of TMJ disorders including jaw pain, clicking in the jaw joint, ear pain, and more. TMJ disorders happen when there is an issue in the jaw joint. The jaw joint, just like every other joint in your body, can become damaged for various reasons. The damaged joint can cause a lot of pain. Many people with a TMJ disorder find it difficult to open their mouths to eat and even speak.
There are several different treatment options for TMJ disorders. Figuring out the right treatment depends on the root cause of the issues in the jaw joint. Some patients do fine with mild treatments like night guards and over-the-counter pain relievers. But there are many patients who need surgery in order to truly find relief.
Arkansas resident, Olivia Brown, is one of those patients. Olivia’s issues with her jaw started when she was in high school. She started to notice pain in her left jaw joint, ear pain, and clicking in her jaw joint. So, she sought help from an orthodontist, who prescribed a night guard.
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Night Guards Are Not the Only Treatment Option for TMJ Disorders
Night guards, also called mouth guards or bite braces, are a common treatment option for mild TMJ disorders. It works in a similar way to a knee brace. It fits on your upper jaw and absorbs the pressure of the jaw. These night guards also help prevent you from grinding your teeth and clenching your jaw, which reduces damage to the jaw joint.
Night guards can be an effective treatment option for many patients with TMJ disorders. However, they’re not always right for everyone. Sometimes there are other issues with the jaw joint that need to be addressed directly.
And this was the case with Olivia. Over time, she realized that the night guard wasn’t working.
“I was chewing through 2-3 night guards a year,” Olivia said.
Solution: Finding the Root of the Problem
After chewing through about 10-12 mouth guards, Olivia decided to seek out other treatment options. And that’s when she found PRECiDENT Center for Facial and Dental Medicine in Rogers, Arkansas.
The TMJ specialists at PRECiDENT Arkansas helped Olivia find the relief she was looking for. Dr. Bolding and his worked together in order to figure out the root cause of her TMJ disorder. Simply prescribing another night guard without taking the time to investigate what was truly going on in her jaw joint wasn’t going to work. So, the PRECiDENT team took an orthopedic approach to diagnosing her TMJ disorder. They started by understanding her medical history. Then, they took time to thoroughly examine her jaw joint. This involved feeling the joint as well as taking images with an MRI.
A Displaced Disc Was Causing Her TMJ Pain
The MRI revealed that the disc in Olivia’s left jaw joint was displaced.
Your jaw joint is just like other joints in your body. It has ligaments and tendons. It also has a disc called the synovial disc. This disc contains synovial fluid, which lubricates and provides nutrients to the joint. If the synovial disc is damaged or displaced, it can cause serious damage to the jaw joint. Not getting enough synovial fluid can cause the cartilage cells in the joint to break down. When those cells break down, so does the jaw joint.
In order to truly cure Olivia’s jaw pain, she needed more than just a night guard. The night guards she had been using previously only helped her manage her symptoms. But they weren’t going to fix the problem. She needed to undergo jaw surgery.
Now, it’s important to remember that not everyone who has a TMJ disorder needs jaw surgery. As we’ve said before, the most effective treatment option depends on the cause of the issues in the jaw joint. If the cause is something like a displaced disc, however, the only real cure is surgery.
Result: Immediate Relief
Olivia felt relief immediately after her surgery.
“After surgery I felt immediate relief. I woke up in recovery feeling better.”
Soon after surgery, Olivia was able to get back to a normal, pain free life. She no longer felt any pain. Before surgery she could hardly open her mouth to eat. Now, she has complete range of motion in her jaw joint, which means she can eat the things she wants, like an apple, without feeling like her jaw is going to break. There’s no more ear pain. No more clicking.
Experience the PRECiDENT Difference
Life Without TMJ Pain in Arkansas
Dr. Bodling and his specialist at PRECiDENT Arkansas have helped many other patients just like Olivia find freedom from TMJ pain. And every patient that comes through our doors would agree that when it comes to treating TMJ disorders, there’s something different about PRECiDENT. We take TMJ disorders seriously. We know that every TMJ case we see is unique. And so we take the necessary time to make sure we understand everything that’s going on inside your jaw joint before offering any treatment option. We don’t want you to live in pain any longer than you have to.
If you’re like Olivia and you’ve been struggling to find the right solutions to your jaw joint problems, PRECiDENT Arkansas is ready to help. We are here to make sure you get the right treatment so you can get back to living a pain free life.
No more pain.
No more discomfort.
No more joint stiffness.
That’s life without a TMJ disorder.