More Smiles Dental Spa Dentistry Blog | James A. Moreau, Jr., D.D.S.

Thousands and thousands of people live their lives every single day with uncomfortable symptoms of TMD, Temporomandibular Disorder, yet don't realize that this isn't "normal" and would certainly never think to report this to their dentist.

One of our own family members, who had previously worn an NTItss device for jaw joint symptoms, was in the office today for her periodic exam and professional cleaning. She casually mentioned that she had experienced some numbness in her face and that she was going to see an ENT for an ear infection. Dr. Moreau asked her if she had still been wearing her NTItss, and the answer was no. He did a few preliminary palpitations and screening and suspects that the symptoms she is assigning to ear infection are actually radiating from her TMJ. TENSing and EMG in our office next week will confirm or rule that out.

The point is that someone even this close to dentistry can easily misdiagnose, or BE misdiagnosed because they simply didn't think to tell their dentist what they were feeling.

Some Signs and Symptoms that you should definitely report to your dentist, if he or she is trained in neuromuscular dentistry (NM dentistry), are:

Headaches
Dizziness
Neck, shoulder or upper back pain
Jaw Joint pain or clicking/popping noises
Facial pain or numbness
Ear pain or congestion
Sensitive teeth
Clenching or grinding of the teeth, habitually
Ringing in the ears
Limited opening of the jaws

If you've experienced these symptoms, and HAVE mentioned this to your dentist or physician, without proactive response on his or her part, you should consider finding a dentist who has some background in neuromuscular dentistry and ask for evaluation and screening for TMD. An NM dentist won't hesitate to apply the proper protocol for accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Labels: neuromuscular dentistry, NM dentist, NM dentistry, TMD, TMJ