What are temporomandibular disorders (TMD), and what are the approaches we use to treat them?
TMD most often originates as a neuromuscular problem, sometimes due to dislocation or injury, sometimes genetic discrepancies, and sometimes it can be linked to arthritis; most often it is associated with stress. Symptoms include pain in and around the ear, chronic headaches or pain in the neck, tenderness of the jaw, or a clicking or popping noise when you open your mouth or yawn. As long as TMD is limited to the muscles only, we have a fair chance of improving the problem and sometimes correcting it altogether. If the problem is not addressed and becomes a joint problem (intracapsular problem), it becomes very difficult to obtain a permanent solution even though we manage to improve the condition. Almost everybody has some level of TMD, but some cases become truly painful and interfere with our normal way of living. For certain patients, simple exercises relieve the problem. Relaxation and stress control are very important, too, because this can reduce the symptoms tremendously. But
