Answering Common Questions on TMJ Disorders

Many people may have not heard about TMJ disorder, which is regarded as a dental problem. Since people have limited knowledge or awareness on this dental issue, they commonly come up with some questions. What is a TMJ disorder? How can it be treated? Many such questions come to the mind of people. In the following section, few common questions regarding TMJ disorder are listed up. Possible answers to these questions are also discussed.

How TMJ disorder occurs?

TMJ stands for Temporomandibular Joint. In simple words, it refers to the jaw joints of human beings. People, having TMJ disorder, would experience sharp pain or soreness on the jaw joint. When I experience TMJ pain, what exactly is happening? You would find extremely discomfort in moving your jaws due to pain at jaw joint areas. This happens as you are probably suffering from TMJ disorder. If you notice such issues with your jaws, you need to consult an experienced dentist soon. For that purpose, you can visit Anchorage Dental Arts.

How people feel when suffering from TMJ disorder?

Temporomandibular Joint is an important part of our face area, as this joint connects mandible or lower jaw to the skull. The joint can be found at the both right and left sides of the jaw. This type of joint is recognized as ball and socket joint. There is a small cushioning disk in between the ball and socket. So, how do I know if I have TMD? Due to damages to the cushioning disk, one can feel pain on the moving the jaws. This condition is known TMJ disorder, and the pain can be felt, especially when you try to move the jaw for talking, eating, etc.

What are the common symptoms of TMJ Disorder?

There are a few common symptoms to recognize this disorder and they are:

  • You can experience clicking sound on jaw when you try to move jaw. This is a common symptom of TMJ disorder.
  • Muscle pain at cheek and temple area is also a symptom of TMJ disorder.

Now, the question is if diagnosed, what can I expect from treatment? Different treatments are available, including anti-inflammatory medicines, hot and cold compresses, etc. For treatment, you can visit Anchorage Dental Arts.

What is non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy?

Have you noticed bleeding from gums while brushing? Are your gums irritated and swollen? These are all signs of gum disease. Gum disease is one of the most common dental issues in people and it is often caused due to poor oral hygiene routine. The gum disease can also affect your teeth and make them to fall out.

There are two types of approaches used by the dentist for treating gum disease, the surgical and non-surgical. Here’s a Look at some information on both of them:

How Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy Works

This approach of treating gum disease consists of deep cleaning. The process is used for cleaning deep under the gum line for removing hardened bacterial plaque and other bacterial deposits. The dentist in Anchorage, AK will first numb the area which he intends to clean. It takes only a little bit of anaesthesia to help the patient feel relaxed. The periodontist in Anchorage 99503 will then clean the area above and below the gum line and remove plaque and tartar. This process will leave your root surface smooth and non-plaque retentive. After the cleaning process, the gums can heal and size of periodontal pockets can reduce.

Depending on your situation, the scaling and root canal treatment can take one or multiple visits. It will be decided on the basis of the extent of your gum disease. The dentist may also use antibiotic or antiseptic therapy.

What This Means for You

These treatments are great at stopping the gum disease from damaging your smile. However, if the gum disease has advanced, you may need minor surgery to access the deeply hidden and hardened deposits. If you notice any symptoms of the gum disease that have been discussed earlier, it is time for you to seek medical help from a dentist. The sooner you go to a dentist, the better the chances of preventing the disease from escalating and damaging your dental health. Also, when the disease is in its early stage, conservative ways of treatment can be used instead of surgical procedures which become a must in case of advanced gum disease.

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