TMJ Jaw Pain

You may jaw pain, better known as TMJ or Temporomandibular Joint Disorder. The temporomandibular joint is so named because it connects the mandible (or lower jaw) to the temporal bone on both sides of your head. Jaw pain is any sort of pain in the jaw area, which incorporates the lower jaw (mandible, better known as the jaw bone), and surrounding delicate tissues. You may feel a dull hurt or pain, or it might be painful to the point that you can’t open your mouth to eat. Jaw pain can be executed by eating, drinking, or by just misalignment or degeneration of the jaw bone.


Stress is the most common reason for jaw pain of the temporomandibular joint. TMJ pain can be caused by a sudden or slow movement of the joint, or even sickness of the joint and muscles, ligaments, tendons, and other delicate tissues surrounding the joint tissue. At times, jaw pain may happen with different side effects that may demonstrate a genuine or dangerous condition, for example, a heart attack, which should be quickly assessed in an emergency room setting.

TMJ is where the joints of the jaw are misaligned or are degenerating. It is regularly portrayed by a clicking sound when opening and shutting the mouth and when biting. It can result in jaw pain that can end up being extreme pain after some time. In extraordinary cases, it can even leave the patient unable to open or close their mouth. In the event that you begin to encounter trouble in opening or shutting your mouth, or hear a clicking sound when biting, it is almost a sure bet that you have TMJ.

Jaw pain is an indication of inflammation including:

  1. Age-related jaw pain and surrounding tissues.
  2. Separation of the jaw.
  3. Osteoarthritis.
  4. Osteomyelitis of the jaw (bone contamination).
  5. Osteonecrosis of the jaw (loss of blood supply to the jaw bone).
  6. Joint pain due to rheumatoid arthritis.
  7. Sinusitis. 
  8. Grinding of the teeth.
  9. Locking of the jaw.

Jaw pain is also a sign of various dental conditions including:

  1. Tooth impaction.
  2. Abscess of the surrounding teeth.
  3. Decaying teeth.


Other causes of TMJ pain include headaches.

Diagnosis:

TMJ pain depends on what the cause is, as the methods vary.  Proper and prompt diagnosis is important, which is where the fellowship-trained radiologists with many years of experience at The Radiology Clinic can help.  MRI of the TMJ can help diagnose TMJ disorders and can help start the path to recovery by guiding your doctor to develop the best treatment. MRI can diagnose joint, soft tissue, bony, and other abnormalities related to the complex TMJ joint.  With 3T MRI at The Radiology Clinic, even subtle pathology can be picked up that can vastly help in treatment.


Triggers:

Knowing the trigger of your TMJ pain is important to prevent the pain from returning.

We here at The Radiology Clinic provide multi-modality medical diagnostic imaging to improve the health of patients as well as our ordering clinicians abilities to diagnose and treat medical illnesses and injuries.

“Our mission is to improve the health of our patients through our state-of-the-art imaging while treating patients with respect, compassion, and integrity.”

The Radiology Clinic radiologists provide their patients with the proper care and attention they so deserve while undergoing a radiology examination with special care for ALL of our patients of ALL ages.

If you are in need of radiology services, The Radiology Clinic offer not only the best patient services far and wide but the best state-of-the-art technology hands down.

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