What Causes TMJ?
Several factors cause or contribute to TMJ:
- An injury or blow to the face, jaw, head, or neck. This can occur in a car or sporting accident, where you may experience whiplash (that is, the neck, face or jaw are injured). Anytime your head is thrown or thrust in a traumatic way, your jaw can become displaced. The injury itself may have occurred months or even years before pain becomes chronic enough to seek out help, and by then, you may no longer associate the earlier injury with the increasing facial pain.
- As many as 80% of Americans have faulty teeth alignment. For instance, if you have missing teeth, or dental work, such as crowns or bridges, these sometimes obstruct the normal bite pattern. Over time, teeth that fit together improperly may strain the joint or surrounding facial muscles, causing or increasing symptoms.
- Emotional stress resulting in habits such as lip biting, nail biting and teeth clenching (day) and teeth grinding (night). These habits overwork the jaw, causing undue strain on the jaw area.
- Some people may have a genetic tendency to develop TMJ, which can be triggered when they overwork or overextend the jaw.
How Do I Know if I Have It?
Identifying TMJ is tricky, even for your orthodontist or dentist, who most often treat the condition, because you may experience some, but not all common symptoms.
However, those who suffer from it often report:
- Pain in the head, face, neck or shoulders
- A clicking or popping sound in the joint when the mouth is opened widely, such as when you yawn
- Difficulty in opening the jaw wide - you may get a "sticking" sensation
- Frequent headaches - sometimes of migraine proportion.
- Ringing in the ears, "plugged" ears, or ear pain
- Clenching or grinding of the teeth
- Dizziness
- Painful or sore jaw, especially in the morning, when you first awaken
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