A Healthy TMJ Means a Healthy Smile

By Jeffrey L. Brown, DDS

When the jaw joint, the TMJ, is not properly aligned and the discs that cover the top of the jaw bones (the condyles) are displaced, this creates a lot of inflammation that affects the entire body. So many people experience TMD – Temporomandibular Disorder – and yet are completely unaware that it exists. TMD can manifest as headaches, neck pain, back pain, throat pain, swallowing problems, tremors/twitches, and many other symptoms. When a person has TMD it can affect their whole body and the pain from the damaged joint leaves a person feeling tired, in pain, irritable, and generally in bad shape.

So, what does a person need to do to figure it out? The first step is to find someone who can get a good MRI of the jaw joints and see if the discs in the joints have been displaced. If so, then you need to figure out how to treat the problem. Think of it like this: if your kneecap is slipped off to the side, then it just plain hurts to walk with that little meniscus slipped away from where it should be. The jaw joint disc is the same way- if displaced, it can and will rub against nerves and blood vessels in the area and cause radiating problems that can actually travel through the entire body.

This may seem strange, but a displaced articular disc has been observed to correlate directly with the ACL injury in the opposite side knee. This is a very common injury, but the way it works is that the displaced TMJ disc causes an asymmetry in the cranial structures, and this radiates all the way down to the knee. In other words, the head bone is connected to the ankle bone. Such a displacement can really cause your smile to go sideways into a frown.

One of the more recent observations in regard to TMD is that the displaced disc in the jaw joint can actually contribute to shoulder injuries. That is right- if the articular discs are out of place, then the condyles may be too deep in the socket, and this is a signal to the body that the power to your arms should be cut off. By doing something called the ‘arm strength test’ it can readily be determined if the condyles are too deep in the sockets. This simple test involves pressing down on the arm when it is out to the side or up in the air and then assessing the same strength point but with the jaw propped open just a bit with cotton rolls or even a pencil. The results are quite interesting and will definitely make most people smile.

As you can guess by now, if the TM joints are healthy then this really helps the entire body become healthier. This is where the healthy joints make healthy smiles.