Could TruDenta® Address Your Headaches?
Headaches can be so much more than just pain.
If you have struggled with frequent headaches, then you know that they can grind your day to a halt. You may want to seal yourself in a soundproof roof with the lights off when you are dealing with one.
When you have a bad headache, like a migraine, everyday sounds can feel like someone pounding on your head. Light can be painful, too.
Most of us don’t want to spend our days isolated from our loved ones, which is why Beaumont Family Dentistry wants to help.
We offer TruDenta®, which is a rehabilitation therapy program that may be able to help you alleviate the pain of your frequent headaches.
If your headaches are the result of a TMJ problem, then we will do everything that we can to help.
Fighting Through The Pain
You may not have considered your jaw as the source of your headache pain, yet this is a common symptom of TMJ disorders.
If you hold your fingers on the side of you face just under your ears, you should be able to feel your TMJ moving as you open and close your mouth. TMJ is an abbreviated way of saying temporomandibular joint. You have one on each side of your jaw, and they are what helps you open and close your mouth.
TMJ problems are common, but TMJ disorders are more serious. These are problems that recur over and over again.
TMJ disorders can cause a number of symptoms — including the headaches and migraines that may be disrupting your life.
You know if you’ve ever had a migraine that they can make it extremely difficult to focus on doing anything when you are at work. When you get one at home, they can take away from your time with your family and friends.
In addition to the light and sound sensitivity that we mentioned earlier, migraines may leave you feeling nauseous and cause blurred vision at times.
And headaches are just one of many possible symptoms of TMJ disorders.
You also may notice pain in your jaw. This can be a lingering pain, or it may become worse during or after meals. You may experience limited movement of your jaw, such as the inability to completely open or close your mouth.
TMJ problems can contribute to face, neck, and upper back pain and to earaches, too.
Teeth Grinding And TMJ
You can develop a TMJ disorder for one or a combination of reasons. Arthritis, illnesses, and injuries may create problems in your joint or the surrounding muscle tissues, but so can bruxism.
What is bruxism? It’s a term that refers to clenching and grinding your teeth. You can do this without being aware of it. Millions of people even do it in their sleep.
People how clench and grinds often generate forces two times the normal pressure used while eating. Stress can increase your likelihood of grinding your teeth.
With TruDenta, we take a comprehensive approach to address the cause of your TMJ disorder and to alleviate the symptoms, including your frequent headaches.
How We Help
As noted, TruDenta therapy includes four phases.
The first phase is 8 to 12 weeks of weekly appointments. During this time, we will use a combination of microcurrent electrostimulation, ultrasound, and manual muscle therapy on your jaw.
The second phase complements the first phase. While are have your weekly sessions at our office, you also will be doing home therapy. Cold packs, lotions, medicine, and relaxation techniques all may be part of the process.
The third phase may include wearing an oral appliance. This can be particularly helpful to address the clenching and grinding of your teeth. The appliance, which you can wear while you sleep, will keep your top and bottom teeth separated.
It also may change the resting position of your jaw. As you adjust to wearing it, your jaw will remain in a more relaxed state, which can reduce the pressure on your TMJ.
The fourth phase is what is called force balancing. This is intended to more evenly distribute the pressure applied to different parts of your jaw.
Feel Better With TruDenta
Our staff members at Beaumont Family Dentistry hate seeing our patients in pain. We can help with headaches, migraines, and other symptoms by working to address the source of your TMJ disorder.
With TruDenta, our Lexington-area dentists have a therapeutic technique to help you reduce the pain in your life. You can make an appointment by filling out our online form or by calling the office that is closest to you.