TMJ Disorders - Pickerington, Westerville, & Columbus, OH

To help manage jaw pain in Pickerington, Columbus, and Westerville, OH, give your jaw a break by avoiding hard chewing, clenching, and habits like gum or nail chewing. Stick to soft foods such as yogurt or mashed potatoes, and use alternating ice and heat for 10–20 minutes to reduce inflammation and relax tight muscles.

Practicing good posture, keeping your teeth slightly apart, your tongue resting on the palate, and your ears aligned over your shoulders, can also improve jaw and neck alignment. Reducing stress is also important, since tension often contributes to TMJ strain.

Short-term use of over-the-counter pain relievers, such as ibuprofen, can provide temporary relief from jaw and muscle discomfort. If symptoms persist, we may prescribe stronger pain or anti-inflammatory medications, muscle relaxants, or certain antidepressants at The Ohio Center for Oral, Facial & Implant Surgery.

Some medications approved initially by the FDA for conditions such as depression or seizures act on the same nerve pathways involved in pain. These therapies can help reduce discomfort and improve overall TMJ symptom control.

Stress management approaches, including deep breathing, yoga, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation, can calm the nervous system and relax jaw muscles.

Studies have shown that physical therapy can significantly reduce TMD-related pain and discomfort through exercises, stretches, and jaw movement techniques. Exercises focus on stretching muscles to relieve tightness, strengthening muscles to improve function, and enhancing coordination to allow the jaw to move more smoothly and comfortably.

Oral appliances in Pickerington, Columbus, and Westerville, OH, are carefully engineered to realign the jaw, relieve tension, and reduce strain on the TMJs. By promoting balanced muscle function, these appliances can also help curb harmful habits, such as teeth grinding, which often contribute to or worsen TMJ pain.

Selecting the right appliance can significantly ease discomfort and help protect your jaw from long-term damage. Our oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Dr. Manraj Bath, will determine if a stabilization splint, repositioning splint, or nightguard is the best device based on your specific TMJ problems, including symptom severity, the presence of bruxism, and your overall oral health.

Occlusal adjustment (bite adjustment) is a procedure that refines how your upper and lower teeth contact each other to balance biting forces and improve overall alignment. Dr. Bath may recommend this simple TMJ treatment at The Ohio Center for Oral, Facial & Implant Surgery to reduce excessive stress on your jaw joints and alleviate symptoms.

This is especially beneficial if bruxism is a contributing factor, as it even out pressure on your teeth to help prevent associated bite abnormalities. Additionally, correcting bite imbalances can improve tooth stability and decrease sensitivity by redistributing forces more evenly across your teeth.

Orthodontics can help with TMD specifically when jaw pain and headaches are related to bite misalignment by correcting imbalances. As a highly experienced oral surgeon, Dr. Bath has extensive expertise performing all types of jaw surgery [LINK TO JAW SURGERY], including collaborating with orthodontists.

Total TMJ replacement to treat severe TMD involves replacing the damaged joint with a prosthetic one to improve jaw function, relieve pain, and enhance quality of life. This is typically reserved for TMD associated with severe jaw joint arthritis, limited motion, or jaw fusion (ankylosis), jaw joint tumors, trauma-related jaw injuries, and advanced TMJ disorders that haven’t responded to other treatments or surgeries.

In cases requiring a more detailed examination or intervention, Dr. Bath may recommend arthroscopy, a minimally invasive keyhole surgery for TMD in Pickerington, Columbus, and Westerville, OH. This involves inserting a small camera through small incisions into your joint space, enabling visualization and treatment of disc displacement, inflammation, and scarring.

Open joint surgery, performed in a hospital under general anesthesia, is reserved for severe, treatment-resistant TMD to provide long-term relief. This procedure involves making an incision near the ear to access the jaw joint, repositioning or replacing the disc, removing bone/scar tissue, or alleviating ankylosis or locked jaw.