How To Cure TMJ Disorder Permanently

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder causes inflammation and pain in your jaw joint. It’s twice as common in women than men, and mainly affects women aged 35-44 [1].

TMJ disorder can be painful and impact your quality of life, but fortunately there are plenty of treatment options to cure TMJ disorder permanently. Here, we’ll explore what TMJ disorder is, the best treatments available, and which private TMJ disorder treatments are offered by our clinical specialists.

Table of Contents

What is TMJ disorder?
How to cure TMJ disorder permanently
Find a permanent cure for TMJ disorder

What is TMJ disorder?

TMJ disorder is also known as temporomandibular disorder (TMD). TMD describes the disorder, and TMJ describes the temporomandibular joint itself. This is the joint where your lower jaw meets the base of your skull; it’s essential for chewing, eating, speaking, yawning, and moving your jaw.

You have two TMJs – one on either side of your jaw, just below each ear. If you place your fingers just in front of your ears and open your mouth, you can feel these joints moving.

TMD covers a group of more than 30 conditions that affect the movement and function of your jaw joint [1]. These conditions can cause a clicking jaw, pain and problems with movement in your jaw joint and muscles.

What are the two types of TMD?

TMJ disorders can be broken down into two different types. Each type comes with different symptoms, and you may have one or more of these types at the same time.

1. Disorders of the jaw joint

This type of TMD includes joint pain, disc disorders and bone damage. A disc disorder is when the disc that cushions your jaw joint is in the wrong place, which can cause pain and swelling.

Bone damage may be due to a degenerative joint disease, such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Osteoarthritis is more common in older people and is where the bones and cartilage in a joint break down over time.

RA is an autoimmune disease, which means your immune system turns against your body and attacks healthy tissue in your joints. This can affect your jaw joint and cause pain, inflammation, and limited movement.

2. Disorders of the jaw muscles

The second type of TMD involves disorders of the muscles you use for chewing, known as masticatory muscles. If you have a disorder of your jaw muscles, you may experience localised pain that feels worse when you apply pressure to the sore area.

You may also experience radiating pain, which is pain that spreads beyond the area it started in and affects other areas of the body. In the case of TMD, this may be pain from the jaw muscles that spread to your head, neck, shoulder, or other parts of your face.

There is a wide range of treatment options for TMD. These include lifestyle changes, self-management, medications, physiotherapy, injections and surgery. Often a combination of treatments is required to get on the road to recovery and achieve a permanent cure.

Lifestyle changes

Many cases of TMD are mild and will resolve without medical treatment. You can help to speed this process up and avoid future flare-ups of TMD by making some lifestyle changes. Here are some tips:

Avoid eating too many hard, crunchy foods. Opt for softer foods that put less strain on your jaw joint. This will also help if you experience jaw clicking when eating.
Cut back on fingernail biting, which has been shown to increase your risk of developing TMD, and worsen symptoms if you already have it [2].
Jaw clenching is another habit that can cause and worsen TMD symptoms [3]. Try to consciously reduce jaw clenching – we’ll cover options to reduce jaw clenching due to stress later in this article.
Excessive gum-chewing is another one of the things that make TMJ disorder worse [4]. Try to cut back on this as much as possible if you’re struggling with TMD.

Self-management

There are active steps you can take to reduce painful or uncomfortable symptoms of TMD. Here are some things you can try:

Use ice or heat around your jaw to relieve your symptoms. Ice can reduce swelling around your jaw joint, and heat can relax painful, tight muscles. Always place a thin layer of fabric between the ice and your skin.
Learn relaxation, meditation and stress management techniques. These can help to reduce habits like jaw clenching, fingernail biting and teeth grinding, which are often linked to stress. If you’ve tried to reduce these habits but have found it difficult, calming techniques may be your answer.
Stay sociable and involved in activities that are important to you. You may find yourself avoiding activities like eating in public if it’s painful and difficult – if this is something you struggle with, find ways to stay social that work for you. Social isolation can worsen chronic pain, and pain can be improved by positive, meaningful social interactions [5].
Learn all you can about your specific type of TMD. Usually, it’s best to consult a healthcare professional first to ensure you’ve got the correct diagnosis. Once you have a diagnosis, your clinician will be able to direct you to helpful resources on self-management.

Medications

Although medications are not a permanent cure for TMD, they may reduce pain and allow you to move your jaw more normally. This can be the first step to finding a more permanent solution.

The first medication recommended for a painful jaw is usually nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which you can buy over the counter. These can improve pain and inflammation around your jaw joint.

Your doctor or dentist may also prescribe antianxiety or antidepressant medications to manage any emotional triggers of TMD. In some cases, this can treat both causes and symptoms of TMD.

Stress-induced jaw clenching can cause TMD by encouraging muscle overactivity and spasm [6]. Once you’ve developed TMD, it is often accompanied by emotional disturbance and poor sleep quality [7], which can further impact your mental health.

Although TMD is not associated with seizures, your doctor may prescribe anticonvulsant medication. This can improve symptoms of TMD by regulating the immune system and reducing inflammation in the body [8].

For severe pain, you may be prescribed opioid medication. You will often trial other medications before resorting to opioids because they can be addictive and have significant side effects.

Physiotherapy

Physiotherapists can assess, diagnose and treat TMJ disorders. They may recommend diagnostic imaging if needed to confirm the diagnosis.

Your physiotherapist will complete a full assessment of your symptoms, starting with a verbal, detailed history. They’ll then complete a physical assessment, looking at the movement of your jaw, testing movements to see if they bring on your pain, and feeling around your jaw for tenderness.

You’ll likely be prescribed a tailored set of exercises to improve your jaw movement and pain. They may also use techniques, including:

Trigger point massage – This involves identifying painful knots of tight muscle around the jaw and using massage to relax and release them.
Manual therapy – This is a passive, skilled movement that physiotherapists use to reduce pain and encourage your jaw joint to move smoothly.
Acupuncture – This involves inserting thin needles in and around the muscles of the jaw, as well as in other areas of your body that can affect jaw pain. This stimulates nerves and prompts the release of endorphins, your body’s natural painkillers.
Electrotherapy – This is the application of small electrical currents to a painful area. This also encourages the release of endorphins and aims to improve pain.

Our team of private physiotherapists are skilled in assessing and treating TMD. Book an appointment to arrange your first session.

Injections

Several different types of injections can improve symptoms of TMJ disorder. Here are some of the injections we offer at Harley Street Specialist Hospital:

Steroid injections

These are where your jaw joint is injected with steroid medication (known as corticosteroids) to reduce inflammation and improve movement. Steroid injections of methylprednisolone into the TMJ can improve pain and mouth-opening capacity for around 3 weeks, allowing you to perform jaw exercises and improve movement in this timeframe [9].

Platelet Rich Plasma

This is a potential alternative to surgery that uses your body’s natural healing properties to improve the function of your jaw joint and reduce pain. It uses a concentrated dose of platelets harvested from your blood to repair damaged cartilage, ligament, muscle and bone.

Activated Mesenchymal Pericyte Plasma (AMPP®)

This is where regenerative cells (cells used for healing) are harvested from your fat tissue, usually taken from your stomach or thigh. These are combined with PRP and injected into your TMJ to stimulate healing.

Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate (BMAC)

Here, stem cells are taken from your bone marrow (the tissue in the centre of your bones). Then, they are reinjected into your jaw joint to encourage healing and regeneration.

PRP, AMPP® and BMAC are all types of regenerative medicine – medicine that takes advantage of your body’s natural healing mechanisms. These procedures are low-risk because cells are taken from your own body and the procedures are minimally invasive.

Surgery

If other treatment options don’t resolve your symptoms, you may need surgery to cure your TMJ disorder. Here are some types of surgery available:

Arthroscopy

This is a minimally invasive type of surgery, and your surgeon will use a tiny incision (cut) to access the joint. An arthroscope (a thin tube with a camera and light) is inserted into the joint while you are unconscious under general anaesthetic.

This type of surgery can help with accurate diagnosis, and your surgeon can remove or adjust tissue in the joint as needed. This is often combined with arthrocentesis, where the joint is washed out under pressure with sterile fluid.

Disc reduction and fixation

This is open surgery, meaning a larger incision will be needed to access the jaw joint. It is also known as meniscoplasty or discoplexy. This surgery aims to move a displaced disc back to the right place, using small stitches.

Disc removal and grafting

This is also known as meniscectomy or discectomy and is another type of open surgery. It involves removing the problem disc and replacing it with a graft, usually a fat graft from your abdomen.

Removal of tumour or diseased tissue

Your surgeon cuts out diseased tissue or tumour around your jaw joint. If needed, they reconstruct this area with a graft. This is also open surgery.

TMJ replacement

This is where your TMJ is completely replaced and may be required if you’ve had significant trauma to your jaw, surgery for a tumour, a major infection or end-stage degenerative joint disease.

This is major open surgery and it takes around three months to plan and build the replacement jaw. You will spend around a week in the hospital and be reviewed regularly once you go home.

Find a permanent cure for TMJ disorder

Not sure where to start? Harley Street Specialist Hospital’s expert clinicians can point you in the right direction. With a clinical team of oral and maxillofacial surgeons, pain management consultants, physiotherapists and radiographers, there are plenty of treatment options available.

Book an appointment to arrange an assessment of your TMD symptoms. Assessment, diagnosis, and treatment can often take place on the same day.