The alignment of your jaw not only affects your teeth, jaw problems can affect your head, neck, face, and body. The network of nerves and muscles in your jaw affect muscles elsewhere in your body, and thus general pain symptoms may point to temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ or TMD).
TMJ disorder can cause pain that is not located near the jaw joint, which is in front of your ear. Such pain includes:
- Facial pain
- Jaw pain
- Head, neck and shoulder pain
- Migraine-like headaches
There is a TMJ on either side of your head. It joins your lower jaw and your skull, and enables you to open and close your mouth, and move your jaw around.
When the TMJs are misaligned or overextended by the demands of a misaligned bite, chronic pain can result. As the muscles around the TMJs are strained, other muscles in your body are strained as well. You may even experience tingling in your hands as a result of these problems.
Because TMJ disorders cause general pain symptoms, your pain may have been misdiagnosed for years. By visiting an experienced neuromuscular dentist, you can find out whether this pain is actually caused by jaw problems.
To learn more about TMJ diagnosis and treatment near Arlington, please contact Galleria Dental Aesthetics to schedule a consultation.