JAW JOINT DISEASES
It is easy to make a diagnosis when patients generally express their complaints with sentences such as "I hear a sound from my jaw, my ear hurts, my mouth is slipping". Jaw joint disorders, that is, temporomandibular joint diseases, occur with acute macro or chronic microtraumas. Macrotrauma may be a blow to the jaw. Microtrauma can occur by clenching teeth during the day or night, and various parafunctional movements (such as chewing gum, biting a pencil). In addition, occlusal crowding, missing teeth, and one-sided eating of the patient may also occur as causes of microtrauma. These traumas affect the teeth, jaw joint, chewing and other muscles in the head and neck area. Disorders in the jaw joint first begin with disc displacement, then continue with disc dislocation with or without reduction, and then osteoarthritis.
The disease is mostly seen in women and stress is the primary cause.
SYMPTOMS
1) Sound coming from the joint (clicking, popping)
2) Pain in front of the ear and chewing muscles
3) Pain in the head and neck area
4) Locking
5) Sliding at the tip of the jaw when opening and closing the mouth
6) White line called linea alba inside the cheek at the level of the occlusion line
7) Tongue lacy appearance created by tooth marks on the edges
TREATMENT
1)Splinting
2)Trigger point injections into the chewing muscles
3)Botox
4)Arthrocentesis
5) Psychiatric treatment
6)Joint surgery (very rare)
Treatment always starts with a splint, which is a transparent, removable, patient-specific apparatus. Botox and trigger point injections can be added to this treatment. If the joint complaints do not go away and the problem originates from within the joint, arthrocentesis, that is, washing the inside of the joint with serum, is performed.
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