Countless people experience facial pain, awaken with tired facial muscles as if they had talked for hours, have chronic headaches, neck pain, vertigo, and migraines. They have turned to multiple treatments without success, leading them to accept this condition and thus compromising their quality of life. These are some of the symptoms related to Temporomandibular disorders (TMD), also known as TMJ disorders. Treatments for Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) vary according to the degree of complexity, but all of them begin and end with an Occlusal Splint Therapy regardless of the severity. Many times being the only treatment needed to eliminate the pain. Many people with TMJ problems become skeptical to treatment, ending up frustrated, accepting to live with pain, and tired of investing time and money in treatments without solutions. This is why we offer a one-year money back guarantee in our occlusal splint therapy. This is our commitment to improving your quality of care.
What is an occlusal splint?
It’s a type of dental prosthesis used to diagnose, treat, and prevent alterations of the system integrated by teeth, bone, gums, muscles, and joints.The occlusal splint works by restoring a physiological occlusion and with it, one of the natural self defense mechanisms of a healthy mouth. It’s painless, non invasive, and doesn’t cause any permanent changes. It can also be used as a retainer with all the benefits mentioned before. The dental laboratory creates the splint from a hard acrylic material by using molds of your teeth from the impressions taken at your initial appointment. At this time, the splint is nothing else than a piece of hard acrylic. In order to became a prosthesis, it’s on the Doctor’s knowledge and ability to duplicate the natural self defense mechanism of ones mouth into this appliance. Without this, it becomes nothing else than a piece of material between your teeth, making no difference between getting it from a dentist, or over the counter.
Indication:
When the shape, size, and position of teeth have been compromised; For example: broken, misaligned, missing, and wear. Also when a restoration doesn’t copy proper morphology of the teeth (over or under size fillings and crowns). This mechanism would be absent leaving the system susceptible in it’s weakest point to suffer sometimes irreversible damage. Below are some examples related to one or more of the following problems caused by bruxism.
1. Crack teeth
2. Sensitivity to cold
3. Gum recession
4. Head ached
5. Sore muscle
6. Neck problems
7. Limited opening of the mouth
8. Excessive wear of the teeth
9. Vertigo
A good splint should be comfortable and not cause any pain or discomfort. It should be thin but durable, and fit comfortable. It should allow uniform posterior contact for the right load distribution (even pressure throughout ones mouth), meanwhile relaxing the muscles and still maintain a self defense mechanism. Due to the high degree of difficulty in adapting this appliance, other products are in the market in order to reduce the time and facilitate the adaptation but with a compromise. Very popular ( soft inside hard outside type of appliance) is made of a rubber material that does not allow us to duplicate the natural defense mechanism. With that type of “appliance”, it may protect the teeth by keeping them apart, but when one has bruxism, they bite hard into the guard, in which makes the mandible (lower jaw) get stuck and this difficult movement brings stress into the joints and within time, causes irreversible damage. This increases the clench of a persons bite and causes difficulty with grinding. With that being said, there’s much difference between a mouth/night guard done in the dental office, and the one someone can just get over the counter. Occlusal splint and mouth/night guard may look the same, but they are not. They are built different and work in different ways. The occlusal splint we provide is made out of an hard acrylic material allowing us to adapt, sculpt, and duplicate a defense mechanism into the appliance.
Conclusion.
When the occlusal splint is correctly fabricated, it’s prosthesis is used to diagnose, treat, and prevent alterations of the system integrated by teeth, bone, gums, muscles and joints. It’s painless, non invasive, doesn’t cause any permanent changes, and can also be used as a retainer with all the benefits mentioned before.
BOTOX® Treatment for facial pain and TMJ-TMD
Is used as an alternative treatment for TMJ disorders and associated jaw tension and pain TMD. When injected into facial muscles afflicted with soreness and discomfort, BOTOX® relieves TMJ and jaw tension for many patients. The injections often eliminate headaches resulting from teeth grinding and in cases of severe stress.
Areas Affected by TMJ Botox Therapy
only the areas injected with Botox will be “relaxed.” Botox treatment for TMJ therapy are injected in specific areas. The injections are mainly in the temporalis, frontals and masseter.
What to Expect After the Botox TMJ Treatment?
After the Botox TMJ Treatment, muscle tenderness will start to disappear almost immediately within 24 – 48 hours after the injections. You may continue to see diminishes up to one week after the Botox application is placed.
Botox in combination with the occlusal splint therapy can stop bruxism / teeth grinding
Bruxism is the medical term for unconscious teeth clenching and grinding, either while awake or asleep. This can lead to physical, painful, and severe dental problems. Chronic teeth grinding can cause headache, earaches, facial pain, and even migraines. Dental problems from bruxism include loss of tooth enamel, increased tooth sensitivity, and flattening and/or chipping of the teeth. Bruxism sufferers who grind and clench their teeth while sleeping frequently wake up with a sore jaw. Hypertrophy of the masseter muscle, which may lead to the appearance of a severe square jaw, is another side effect of bruxism.
Botox vs. Conventional Bruxism Treatments
Many other treatments, such as anti-inflammatory medications do not address the source of the problem.
Botox in combination with occlusal splint therapy can successfully protect teeth from damage at night for bruxism sufferers. Botox used for treating bruxism typically lasts three to four months.
