Hi everyone and welcome to my YouTube channel. My name is Priya Mistry and i'm a general dentist
whose practice is focused solely on taking care of patients with TMJ Disorders.
I have been fortunate enough to have been trained and mentored by the TMJ Master himself -
Dr. Arthur L. Parker. He has devoted his life's work and the past 30 years to taking care of patients with TMJ problems
and in doing so he has combined several different treatment modalities and therapies to get
our patients the best outcome possible. The reason i'm creating this channel is because
there's a lot of misinformation or lack of information out there regarding tmj disorders
and how to diagnose them, how to treat them, when to refer for treatment and so i just wanted to
create this channel to talk a bit about that and also how tmj disorders can be related to other
issues that are going on in the body such as Sleep Apnea, diagnoses of ADD and ADHD,
Tongue Tie and there's much more.. so this this video is just a very introductory
sort of hey these are the signs and symptoms of TMJ/TMD, & this is when you should refer
or seek treatment for yourself if that's why you're watching this
In our office we really try to differentiate between TMJ and TMD. Oftentimes people have
a combination of both symptoms and i'll circle back to that at the end.
"TMJ" is a phrase or a term that's often thrown around a lot in the vernacular these days and
really all it means is "Temporomandibular Joints". It is not a diagnosis! So, you have TMJ,
I have TMJ, and we all actually have two TMJs. When a disorder manifests in these joints it typically manifests
as clicking, popping, or crackling noises or episodes of locking or catching within the joint.
"TMD", which is Temporomandibular Disorder or Dysfunction is much more difficult to
diagnose. TMD recognizes that there's a group of muscles that work together to guide and support
the jaw. If or when these muscles become dysfunctional, usually due to chronic clenching,
chronic bruxing or grinding, or simply even the way the teeth come together
it can lead to a variety of symptoms with #1 being headache, closely followed by ear related
concerns such as ear pain, stuffy ears, or vertigo. Other symptoms that also manifest with tmd
include tingling in the jaw ,the arm, or the hand, jaw pain, pain behind the eye and even specific
tooth pain. Because the symptoms are so vast and so varied with TMD, it is often called
"the Great Impostor Disease" and i think it is aptly named because it does seem like other issues are
going on and because of that a lot of our patients have been on quite a journey before they even get to our office.
A lot of them have seen neurologists, they've seen ENTs, they've seen root canal specialists
and even oral surgeons. Many of them have had multiple root canals or teeth extracted or they're
put on strong medications like Gabapentin or painkillers that just sort of keep the symptoms
at bay, but don't really resolve them and that's because the root cause is not being treated.
So if you or anybody that you know has these symptoms please find your nearest
TMJ specialist. There is light at the end of the tunnel! There is hope for a better quality of life
essentially and again oftentimes "TMJ" & "TMD" present together so clicking, popping, or locking
which is within the joint again can be accompanied by headaches, jaw pain, ear pain, etc
So again, that's what makes it so tricky to diagnose and so what we've done over
at our practice is we've really kind of honed it down and we're able to get our patients really
great outcomes. If you're watching this video just more for informational purposes and you like
what you've heard or like what you've learned something, please click "Like" below
and Subscribe to my channel. I'm so excited because I've learned so much over the
past couple years being mentored by Dr Parker that I'm just excited to share my depth of
knowledge with all of you. I'm excited to show how TMJ Disorders tie into so many other issues
going on in the body that often go undiagnosed or unnoticed. so i hope to see you all again soon!
Thank you!