1130 Old Colony Lane, Suite 100 • Williamsburg, VA 23185 • (757) 220-6727
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TMJ Therapy
You may spend most of your life unaware of the important little triangular-shaped joints located in front of your ears. Under normal conditions, they join your lower jaw and temporal bone, allowing your mouth to open and close easily. However, stress, recent dental care, or an improper bite can cause the joints to dysfunction, exposing nerve endings to create pain. The resulting TMJ disorder, or TMD, can create a variety of mild to severe symptoms, from jaw clicking and minor discomfort to sharp pain in your temple, ear, neck, and shoulders.
The condition is very common in our culture, so we evaluate patients for TMJ dysfunction at their regular dental exam. If we detect a problem, our goals are to arrest it, protect teeth from further damage, and correct underlying bite misalignment. Therapy may involve fitting you with a physiologic bite appliance, suggesting ways to alleviate stress, and recommending symptom relief measures. Dr. Morgan received neuromuscular training at the esteemed Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies to specifically address TMJ/TMD in patients and their families.
Dr. Morgna's initial step in assessing a patient for neuromuscular problems involves use of a low-frequency Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation, or TENS, unit. By delivering small electrical impulses to the muscles responsible for jaw movement, the TENS unit relaxes jaw muscles. This results in increased blood flow to flush toxins from the area. After just less than an hour, the relaxed jaw muscles find ideal positioning.
Next, Dr. Morgan will diagnose the problem with our K-7 computerized mandibular scanning unit, which records proper alignment of the jaw and creates digital models of the teeth. With a magnet and sensor, the K-7 can develop 3D images of the patient’s jaw and mouth. The K-7 also has an electro-myograph to measure electrical activity in the muscles. This allows us to determine whether the jaw’s ideal position decreases muscle activity. Another tool within the K-7 is a sonograph, which measures sounds in the jaw joint. This information tells us if the patient’s jaw joint is damaged and to what extent.
Therapy Options
If the information we gather shows that a patient has improper jaw alignment, Dr. Morgan will begin conservative therapy by creating a custom orthotic appliance to hold the patient’s jaw in proper alignment. You will wear the orthotic for three months to stabilize the bite. Once pain is alleviated and your optimal bite is determined, Dr. Morgan can help you achieve permanent relief with coronoplasty. This simply means Dr. Morgan will employ orthodontics, full mouth reconstruction, or a combination of both to give you the comfortable smile you deserve.
Stop living with pain! Dr. Morgan and her team at Williamsburg Smiles can help! Your TMJ dysfunction evaluation is performed in the comfort of our office with a dentist who has the training, education, and experience to help. We also offer second opinion consultations for those who have not received the results they desire.
Call Williamsburg Smiles today to schedule an appointment with Dr. Morgan or Dr. Contract and experience compassionate dental care focused on your family’s precious smiles! From our Williamsburg, VA dental office, we provide quality dentistry to residents of Newport News, Hampton, York County, Norge, James City County, and surrounding areas.