Our Lake Forest area physiologic dentists have specialized training to meet this challenge. Lake Forest Smiles is proud to offer physiologic dentistry as part of our overall program of care, helping TMJ patients find the lasting relief they deserve.
Here is some information about physiologic dentistry, and how Drs. David Schmidt and Tracey Hughes possess these special skills to help patients who suffer from chronic headaches, jaw joint pain, and TMJ disorder.
What is Physiologic & Physiologic Dentistry?
Physiologic dentists are the most qualified medical professionals to diagnose and treat TMJ disorder.
A physiologic dentist provides treatment to correct alignment issues with the bite and/or jaw. By restoring the bite to the ideal alignment, it eases jaw joint tension, reduces inflammation, and relieves pain and headaches. As an airway-focused dental practice, one of the things we take very seriously is the interaction between the various muscles, bones, and joints to create an ideal function. Physiologic dentistry is a treatment philosophy that closely aligns with airway-focused dentistry with the goal of achieving optimal comfort and function of the orofacial systems. Physiologic dentistry is used in treating a number of common oral and overall health concerns, including TMJ dysfunction and chronic headaches. Contact our team to find out more or schedule an appointment today.
Dentists that pursue this specialty go through significant post-graduate education. In addition to going through dental school and gaining an understanding of all of the techniques and procedures entailed in general dentistry, a trained physiologic dentist gains the knowledge to treat the entire system of hard and soft tissues of the mouth, head, and neck—including the jawbone and temporomandibular joint. When your jaw is misaligned, or your temporomandibular joint enters a state of dysfunction, a physiologic dentist can perform an evaluation for signs of damage, or misalignment and develop a treatment plan to get you out of pain.
Technology
As part of their post-graduate training, physiologic dentists become adept at using special state-of-the-art technologies to help in the diagnosis and treatment of TMJ disorder.
As part of our overall commitment to providing leading edge comfortable care, Lake Forest Smiles uses the following technologies:
BioPak: We use this sophisticated technology to record jaw and chewing muscle activity. The data that we collect helps us diagnose and treat TMJ disorder, craniofacial pain, and sleep disorders. We can detect muscle asymmetry, precise muscle movements, and the effectiveness of muscle usage. It’s painless to use and takes only a few minutes to collect necessary feedback and assess the data that is used for a proposed treatment plan.
TENS: An abbreviation for transcutaneous electrical neurostimulation, this treatment is used throughout the medical world to relax muscles through a series of low-frequency electrical impulses. In physiologic dentistry, a TENS unit can be applied to the muscles of the jaw, head, or neck—all of which can become aggravated when a person suffers from TMJ disorder. This becomes quite a convenient tool to help TMJ patients find initial relief. An experienced physiologic dentist also can use TENS technology to stimulate muscle contraction, and determining the ideal resting position for the jaw.
Know the Signs of TMJ Disorder
The following issues could be evidence that you are currently suffering from TMJ disorder
- Persistent ringing in the ears
- Migraine headaches, which do not respond to standard treatments for migraines
- Jaw pain when chewing
- Hearing a popping or clicking sound when your jaws open and close
- Pain in your neck and back, which has been difficult to find treatment for from your general physician or chiropractor
One of the most common misdiagnoses related to TMJ disorder are chronic headaches of migraine-like intensity, but that does not respond well to traditional treatments. If you would like to learn more about TMJ headaches or how TMJ headaches differ from migraines, schedule a consultation with Lake Forest Smiles.
Why Treatment is Important
If you suffer from TMJ disorder, you cannot merely “tough it out” or hope that the condition goes away. In fact, failure to seek diagnosis and treatment only will exacerbate the issue. While the symptoms of this disorder can vary significantly from person to person, TMJ frequently causes pain—often of chronic and severe varieties, bad enough to impede your ability to function on a daily basis and complete regular tasks. Eventually, TMJ will continue to create problems throughout your body. The dysfunction in the temporomandibular joint could eventually spread from the jaw joints to the adjacent musculature, blood vessels, and nerves, and begin impacting the face, neck, and even the spine.
Neuromuscular & Physiologic Dentistry in Lake Forest
To learn more about how we use physiologic dentistry to diagnose and treat TMJ, please contact Lake Forest Smiles by calling (847) 234-4800. Drs Schmidt and Hughes have been providing elite dental care to the communities of Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, and Lincolnshire for more than 30 years. We welcome you to our practice.