Do you experience chronic pain or sensitivity in your jaw, neck, or face? Do you wake up with constant headaches? Does your jaw pop or click, making it difficult or painful to eat?
Facial pain can become debilitating, negatively impacting your quality of life. We see a lot of patients at our Woodbridge, VA dentist office who suffer from chronic jaw pain, and many are at their “wit’s end”. For many of these patients, their facial pain has caused them to miss work, skip family gatherings, and often leaves them bedridden with severe headaches.
What causes chronic face or jaw pain?
TMJ or TMD is a disorder of the temporomandibular joint. The disorder occurs when the joint is damaged, stressed or misused. Nightly teeth grinding, stress, trauma or bite misalignment are common causes of a damaged TMJ. Many patients experience a combination of factors that lead to painful symptoms of the face and neck.
No two cases of TMD are the same. Dr. Joseph Cavallo is a highly trained and experienced dentist with training in the intricate muscles and function of the masticatory system. Dr. Cavallo provides every patient experiencing facial pain with a thorough oral health exam and bite analysis. Dr. Cavallo looks at the interconnectedness between the jaw, teeth, and neck. The goal is to pinpoint the cause of malfunction to bring the whole system into alignment, alleviating painful symptoms.
What are the treatment options for TMJ?
Treatment is tailored to the patient and determined based on the cause of their TMJ. Dr. Cavallo works with patients to build treatment plans that will alleviate pain and prevent future damage to the teeth and gums. Treatment plans may include procedures to restore damaged, missing or misaligned teeth to restore the health and function to the jaw, teeth, and gums. Possible treatments include Invisalign, an oral sleep appliance, restorative dentistry, or other restorative bite correction procedures.
If you struggle with daily pain, feel constantly fatigued, or have headaches every morning, contact our Woodbridge, VA dentist office to learn more about our comprehensive approach to treating TMD.
