Causes, Symptoms and Diagnosis of Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

Temporomandibular joint is the joint where mandible meets the skull. This joint involves in the movement of jaw. Temporomandibular joint disorder is the condition in which pain or dysfunctioning of temporomandibular joint occur.

Causes of Temporomandibular joint disorder

• Injury to the temporomadibular joint
• Bruxism - Grinding and clenching teeth puts pressure on jaw
• Finger nail biting
• Arthritis in the temporomandibular joint causes damage to the joint
• Misalignment of teeth
• Previous history of jaw damage or facial bones causes TMJ disorders
• Holding the telephone between head and shoulder leads to TMJ disorder

Symptoms of Temporomandibular joint disorder
Cardinal Symptoms

• Difficulty in jaw movements - While opening and closing of mouth
• Pain and tenderness in jaw
• Changes in the upper and lower teeth fit together
• Clicking sound occur during opening and closing of mouth
• Swelling on the side of face

Common Symptoms

• Headache mainly in the back side of head, forehead
• Loss of hearing sense
• Fullness of ears
• Ear pain
• Dizziness

Diagnosis of Temporomandibular joint disorder
Dentist examine the symptoms of the disorder and use some tests to examine whether any misalignment of temporomandibular joint or not. Diagnosis tests include:

• Physical examination - Dentist physically examines the temporomandibular joint to diagnose the disorder by examining the joint for pain or tenderness, listen the clicking sound while opening and closing of mouth, by examining the biting ability and examining the facial jaw movements.

• X-rays - Panoramic x-rays are taken by dentist to diagnose the TMJ disorder. Panoramic x-ray gives the complete picture of temporomandibular joint, upper and lower jaw and teeth. This helps your dentist to diagnose whether any abnormalities in the temporomandibular joint.

• CT scan - Computer tomography scanning helps in diagnosis of TMJ disorder. Computer Tomography uses X-ray machine attached to the computer. A large ring like device is moved on to the oral cavity. This takes the three dimensional pictures of oral cavity. This gives a detailed picture of bony joint to diagnose TMJ disorder and helps dentist to choose right treatment for this.

• MRI scanning - Magnetic resonance imaging scanning is similar to CT scanning. MRI scanning uses radio waves and magnetic fields to take the picture of oral cavity. This helps you to  view the soft tissue to diagnose the misalignment of jaw.