Does this sound like how you’re feeling: a dull, aching pain around the ears, radiating to the neck, shoulders, and back?

One of the most common symptoms of TMD is a dull, aching pain around the ears, which can radiate to the neck, shoulders, and back; tenderness of the jaw muscles, headache, a clicking or popping sound in the joint, limited opening of the mouth, and facial pain are also common. Another curious symptom is ringing in the ear(s), sometimes coupled with a feeling that closely resembles being under water or up in the mountains.

Simply put, TMD represents the range of disorders of the jaw muscles and of the temporomandibular joint — the hinge at the side of the head that connects the lower jaw to the temporal bone of the skull.

It is estimated that as many as 60 million Americans … 30% of the US population … suffer from TMD. TMD affects four times as many women as men, and it is most often a problem for those in their thirties and forties.

TMD disorders frequently result when the chewing muscles, the teeth, and the temporomandibular joint do not work together correctly. Some common causes are braces, trauma, whiplash, stress, teeth grinding (also called “bruxism”), dental malocclusions, missing or sore teeth, and muscle abuse.

TENSION HEADACHES AND MIGRAINE HEADACHES ARE AMONG THE MOST COMMON SYMPTOMS OF TMJ DYSFUNCTION

As highly trained dental practitioners in the treatment of TMD, we have spent years learning and practicing the most advanced technology and research to bring relief to our TMD patients. The heart of our practice is to help you find freedom from TMJ and related symptoms – especially TMJ tension headaches and migraine headaches.

Our firm commitment to you, as our patient, is to provide relief from migraine headaches, grinding your teeth, popping and clicking of your jaw, fullness and ringing in your ears, as well as any jaw, face, head, or neck pain related to TMJ.

Our approach is a comprehensive program for treating TMJ problems such as headaches, jaw pain, and bruxism. We start with a complete in-office assessment, including computer evaluation of head/neck/ biting forces and their relationship to healthy muscle and joint positioning, specific splint therapy, massage therapy, laser therapy, and ultrasound. We back up this assessment with outstanding home products, such as a painless Microcurrent unit that gently helps heal muscles and joints and relieves head and neck pain.

For treatment information, visit our website, StopJawPain.com  or call our convenient Naperville Dental office today:  630 369-5225.

While preparing for a presentation on snoring, I came across some interesting facts. According to the National Association of Home Builders, it is estimated that by 2015, 60% of upscale home construction will include increasingly requested “two –master bedrooms”! These extra rooms can be used for visiting in-laws, returning children and friends, and — in growing numbers — snoring spouses. 

In my practice it’s not unreasonable to say that approximately 30% of our patients sleep in separate bedrooms before treatment.

Lack of sleep isn’t just an inconvenience for merely a few people.  Recent polls by the National Sleep Foundation found 67% of people married or living with someone said their partner snored.  People who have a partner with sleep problems such as sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome and insomnia are more likely to say they have sleep-related problems, including greater trouble falling asleep, more-frequent daytime sleepiness and fewer nights of satisfactory sleep.

Sleep problems can lead to serious trouble. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,13% of fatal car accidents are tied to drivers who drift off behind the wheel. In the workplace, about $13 billion and 30 million workdays are lost each year due to sleep-related accidents on the job.

Sleep interruption caused by a spouse is “probably often the most common unresolved difficulty” in a marriage, Paul Rosenblatt, a professor at the University of Minnesota and author of the book “Two in a Bed: The Social System of Couple Bed Sharing.”

Not only is it rewarding for us to help individuals experience a better nights sleep, but  to bring couples back together in the same room peacefully is priceless.  Sometimes patients are so quiet after treatment that their spouses have actually woken them up to make sure they are still breathing! These true stories are ones we especially love to hear.