Do you have TMJ symptoms like headaches, jaw or neck pain? The truth is, you can have a bite that looks perfectly straight to the untrained eye and still have a misaligned jaw. You may think that this is only a minor problem, one that is more of a cosmetic concern than anything else. You may also be under the impression that as long as your teeth look straight, there is nothing to worry about. However, this could not be further from the truth. If you have a misaligned jaw you may be setting yourself up for a painful disorder called temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ. This can occur even if the misalignment is extremely small. Therefore, it is important to consult with your dentist in order to determine if your jaw is properly aligned or not.

What’s the deal

When your jaw is misaligned, your jaw muscles must work overtime to compensate. When they become tired, they recruit the surrounding muscles of your face, head and neck to help out.? The longer that you allow the problem to go unabated, the worse it can get. The tired, strained muscles begin to ache and compress the nerves that run through them causing pain in your jaw, face, and even in your ears. TMJ can also cause severe headaches and pain throughout portions of your neck. All of this can stem from having a jaw that is misaligned and is thus causing too much pressure to be placed on certain nerves and muscles.

Get it treated

In addition to the pain that is experienced with TMJ, it can make opening and closing your mouth properly extremely difficult. In the most severe cases it is almost impossible to open and close your jaw. Therefore, it is vitally important that you have a well qualified dentist determine whether are not your jaw is properly aligned.

If you have a misaligned jaw, it is possible to get effective treatment from your dentist that can get your jaw back into the proper position and prevent the many problems that are associated with TMJ.

Do you have TMJ? Find out

If you suspect that TMJ is at the root of your painful symptoms, fill out my TMJ questionnaire and I’ll reply with a free, no obligations diagnostic recommendation. TMJ pain is treatable. Pinpointing that cause is the first step in determining what you can do about a misaligned jaw.