TMJ and Headaches
Where Your Smile Begins
Calgary, Alberta
If you have TMJ, you probably experience chronic headaches. TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder, also abbreviated as TMD) is a misaligned jaw joint and an accompanying misaligned bite. It is a dental condition with a long list of painful symptoms.
TMJ headaches are often thought to be migraine headaches, as they are chronic and severe. However, they have a different cause. The jaw joints are in front of the ears and the lower jaw has attached muscles with nerves that affect the face, head, and neck, and also the shoulders, back and arms.
Dr. Cload at Southcentre Dental Clinic has extensive training in neuromuscular dentistry and can diagnose and treat TMJ. The jaw area cannot be considered in isolation from the rest of the body because your body mechanics and posture can affect your jaw and cause headaches.
We use the jaw a lot each day, for talking, eating, laughing, yawning, and so on. If the joints are out of alignment, then each time we move the lower jaw, we are putting strain on the jaw muscles and building up chronic tension. Research has shown that more than 30 percent of the body’s nerves run near the jaw joints and about 25 percent of them travel into the mouth and jaws. This helps to explain why TMJ has such a wide range of symptoms.
The Trigeminal Nerve
The trigeminal nerve is one of the largest nerves in the body. It runs on each side of the head from the lower part of the brain (brain stem) and across each side of the face and head. It is both a sensory nerve and a motor nerve – it registers touch, temperature, and pain in the face and mouth and enables the lower jaw to move.
It has three main branches, (hence its name: three beginnings):
The ophthalmic nerve – transmits sensory data to the brain from the scalp, forehead, parts of the eyes, the nose, and the sinuses.
The maxillary nerve – carries sensory data from the cheeks, parts of the eyes, upper teeth and gums, upper lip, roof of the mouth, and various other areas nearby
The mandibular nerve – carries sensory information from the lower teeth and gums, lower lip, chin, jaw, and other nearby areas
Each main branch has sub-branches so there is an extensive network of connected nerves that can register pain. When the jaw joints are misaligned, the jaw muscles become chronically tense, as they try to make the upper and lower teeth meet correctly. Chronic tension in the muscles creates inflammation – swelling – that compresses the nearby nerves.
When a nerve is compressed, we feel pain. In TMD, that can be anywhere in the temples, forehead, top of the head, or face. Some nerve branches run into the shoulders and register pain there and in the arms. Nerve compression can also cause tingling and numbness.
Treating the Headaches
When your headaches are caused by TMD, Dr. Cload can develop a customized treatment plan for you. It will be based on the data he collects using our special technology for diagnosis.
The goal of your treatment plan will be to re-align the jaw joints and thus relieve the painful headaches and other symptoms. Correctly aligned jaw joints will dissipate the tension and inflammation and thus the pressure on nerves. Dr. Cload may prescribe you a custom orthotic to retrain the jaw muscles, reshape some of your teeth, and use ULF-TENS (Ultra low Frequency Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation) to relax muscles and increase blood flow.
If you are wondering whether your headaches are caused by TMD, please call or email our Calgary, Alberta dental office for a personal consultation.
