TMJ

Snoring is the sound of air vibrating through relaxed throat tissue. Sleep apnea is a medical disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. One is a noise. The other is a breathing failure that happens to make noise most of the time. The two separate along four lines: breathing pattern, with air moving […]

Yes, dental appliances work for obstructive sleep apnea. They reposition the lower jaw or the tongue forward to keep the airway open during sleep, which stops the soft tissue at the back of the throat from collapsing and blocking airflow. They work best for people with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea and for people who […]

Sleep apnea affects your oral health through three pathways: chronic mouth breathing, unconscious teeth grinding, and the physiological stress of repeated oxygen drops during sleep. Those three pathways produce dry mouth, faster tooth decay, enamel erosion, worn and cracked teeth, jaw joint pain, gum disease, a scalloped tongue, and changes to jaw growth in children. Below […]

TMJ treatment costs $200 to over $50,000, and where you land inside that range depends almost entirely on how invasive the treatment is. Self-care and a basic appliance sit at the bottom. Custom splints and bite work sit in the middle. Neuromuscular orthotics and jaw surgery sit at the top. Most patients never travel past […]

You may have a TMJ disorder if you notice pain in the jaw, clicking or popping sounds that come with discomfort, or trouble opening and closing your mouth normally. Those three signs are the ones worth watching. Everyone has temporomandibular joints, one on each side of the head, and having them is not a condition. […]

TMJ stands for the temporomandibular joint, the hinge on each side of your head that connects your lower jaw to your skull. Most people use the term differently in everyday conversation, saying they “have TMJ” when they mean they have a TMJ disorder, shortened to TMD. A TMJ disorder causes pain in the jaw and […]