Is TMJ Curable? Can It Go Away On Its Own?

Is TMJ curable and can it go away on its own? First of all, curable? Yes. If it's the teeth that are causing the problem, it's most definitely curable. However, remember, there are other things that can cause that kind of pain.

You can have osteoarthritis or general arthritis. You can have nerve problems in the face and eye and chin region from trigeminal neurologists. Those are nasty little things that we have to get our big brothers, the MDS, ear, nose and throat doctors to fix. You can have ear problems.

Infection, irritation could be a habit that you have that was causing the pain. Pipe smokers used to have it a lot. I don't see many pipe smokers anymore, but things like that habit can cause you to have those type situations. So if it's teeth, though, that are causing the derangement and causing the muscles to stay fired up all the time, yes, it can be cured.

The degree of curing, sometimes it's just a minor adjustment. Sometimes it's replacing and restoring teeth that are gone or missing. Another thing that causes TMJ problems is if you get a lower molar pulled and don't replace it with something over time real quick, generally, that upper molar, since it doesn't have anything to bite on, will start to drift down and become an interference, because it's looking for something to chew against. It's very slow and suddenly you don't even know what's happening until you get a problem.

Will it go away on its own is the second question, yes, sometimes.

Sometimes it will go away on its own if the body adapts and creates a sudo disc between the two bones from the connective tissue that holds the disc in place. That can happen if it's not real severe.

Sometimes it goes away on its own and you think you're healed, but it only got worse. And instead of the disc popping on and popping off, popping off and popping on as you open and close, the muscle got so torn down and the tissue behind the condyle, the bone that holds it to the skull got so stretched out and torn up that the disc will just float under your chin, under your cheek right here. It won't go anywhere.

And the first thing you notice with that is that you don't have any pain, really, but you can't open real wide either. We check your opening all the time. That's the important thing about what the disc was doing. Once I quit spotting and you may or may not have any discomfort, but you can't eat at McDonald's anymore.

Want To Learn More About TMJ Issues?

If you have any questions or concerns about TMJ or other dental issues, contact us by phone or by filling out the form below. One of our dental specialists will be happy to answer any questions you might have. You can also set up a free consultation with Dr. Gary L White to talk with him personally about TMJ issues.