Hi all of my wonderful TMJoiners! I’m Priya Mistry the TMJ doc and today I’m going to talk to you
about tooth pain and how it can be related to TMJ Disorders. So how on
earth does a TMJ issue cause tooth pain? Who do you see about this?
By the end of this video, you should have the answers to these questions and more!
That being said, if you’re looking for more information on TMJ Disorders for yourself
or for a loved one, then this is the YouTube channel for you. Be sure to hit that Subscribe
button and the little bell notification right next to it to get notifications as I post a new
informational video every Friday for people who are suffering from TMJ Disorders or for people who
are kind of just looking for more answers. Be sure to check out my TikTok and my other social media.
I like to post tips, trivia, quick, efficient things that you can do for yourself that can
temporarily help you feel better. So please be sure to check those out. The links are below!
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a general dentist with a practice in Vancouver,
Washington where we are dedicated to taking care of patients with TMJ disorders.
So let’s get right into it! Every other week or so at my TMJD - only practice,
I see a patient who has moderate to severe tooth pain. Oftentimes, this individual has had
one tooth or several teeth examined thoroughly by their general dentist,
their root canal specialist, and even an oral surgeon. Sometimes they’ve even been to
multiple root canal specialists because they are SO convinced that the pain is coming from a very
specific tooth. Some of these patients have even had root canals or multiple teeth extracted
only to find out that the pain is still there! This is a less than ideal outcome obviously,
so by the time the patients make it to my office, they are desperately looking for answers.
At my office, we do a very thorough muscle and joint palpation exam to determine if there
are dysfunctional muscles or other structures contributing to pain. Often times during this
exam, we find that there are, in fact, some muscles, tendons, or ligaments that are very
hot. And by "hot”, I mean that they are tender or painful to palpation. This means that if I
apply 3-5 pounds of pressure to these areas, it triggers a painful or a tender response and then
the patient rates that on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being a little tender and 3 being painful. In
an ideal situation, I should be able to put 3-5 pounds of pressure on all the muscles, tendons,
and ligaments of the head, neck, and jaw that we examine thoroughly, that we palpate thoroughly.
I should be able to put 3-5 pounds of pressure on them without the patient or the individual.
If the muscle, tendon, or ligament that I'm palpating is tender or painful to this palpation,
then there’s a pretty good chance that it is in a dysfunctional state. When these structures of the
head, neck, and jaw are in a dysfunctional state, it can wreak havoc. It can lead to headaches,
neck pain, ear pain, eye pain, and YES my friends - even specific tooth pain. Ding ding ding!
The most common muscles that refer pain to the teeth when they're in a dysfunctional
state include the lateral pterygoid muscle - which I like to call "the Troublemaker",
the masseter muscle, and the temporalis muscle. The stylomandibular ligament and the temporal
tendon are two other structures that can also refer pain to teeth.
To sum it all up, when these muscles and structures are angry, edematous,
in a dysfunctional state - they can refer pain to teeth. So what can be done about this?
Well, at my office we treat with custom orthotics that put the jaw, and the muscles,
and the structures of the head, neck, and jaw in their relaxed position. We follow this up with
myofascial release and we typically see the tooth pain go down drastically or completely go away
usually within a month. So what is myofascial release, you may be asking?
If you're wondering what myofascial release, if you're wondering what an orthotic
is - please watch these two videos. One is called “What is Myofascial Release”.
The other one is "Dental Nightguard vs. TMJ Orthotic" and I've linked them both above.
So that’s really it my friends. If you like what you heard or you learned something new,
click “Like” below, Subscribe to my channel, do all the things! Questions and comments
are welcome. I try to get back to everybody. I'd love to hear from you. And let me know if
you've had tooth pain or you've been to multiple healthcare practitioners with really no answers.
And remember my friends - you can never have TMI about TMJ! Thank you!