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Question:
Oral Surgery Recommendation: I am 79 years old in excellent health. I have TMJ and wear a mouth guard every night.
I have crackling and clicking on the right side of my jaw but not much pain. Will the side of my face collapse if I don't have surgery and leave things as they are?
It doesn't bother me that much but my oral surgeon is sending me for 2nd opinion in NYC ... Visitor from CT
Answer:
It may be beneficial to get some consults with "dentists" who are expert in diagnosing
and treating tmj disorders and routinely use non invasive or minimally invasive procedures to correct tmj dysfunction symptoms and issues.
Oral surgeons typically do "surgery".... which you may not even need.
TMJ symptoms, like those that you have, indicate a dysfunctioning of the joint. Those issues can often be solved with correcting bite problems that can accrue from getting treatment or not getting treatment on adjacent teeth.
Simple, old fashioned bite collapse due to aging (all teeth wear down equally) can often cause these symptoms.
Most tmj and/or neuromuscular dentistry specialists have special instrumentation to assess
the existence of a tmj disorder and can develop the treatments necessary (usually) to correct it.
This may involve treatments to adjacent teeth, or special orthotics to reposition your jaw structures. Surgery should be considered as a last resort, since it is the most invasive.
Editorial Staff
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