TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder – also called TMD) is an under-diagnosed condition worldwide. Most people who have it are completely unaware of what is causing their daily discomfort. TMJ has many symptoms that you cannot fail to notice, such as severe headaches, facial and neck pain, shoulder tension, poor posture, earaches, teeth grinding, and many others.
You would probably not have all the symptoms but you would have some of them in your own unique combination. Each case of TMJ is individual. If Dr. Quigless finds that you do indeed have TMJ, he will devise an individual treatment plan for you to reduce or eliminate pain permanently.
How is TMJ Diagnosed?
TMJ can only be accurately diagnosed by a neuromuscular dentist. It requires knowledge not taught in dental undergraduate schools and technology not owned by a typical general dentist. Dr. Quigless uses technology called the K7 Evaluation System.
The K7 System gathers comprehensive data about your jaw joints and how they move. It is a comfortable procedure and you will have a patient version of its findings, with graphs and understandable explanations as to your jaw joint sounds, jaw muscle movements, and jaw muscle electrical activity.
Dr. Quigless also uses a TENS unit (Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation). It has a number of electrodes the he will place on your head, neck and jaw areas to administer mild electrical stimulation to the muscles. After a half hour or so, the TENS unit will relax your jaw muscles, perhaps for the first time in years.
Immediate Pain Relief
With the jaw muscles relaxed, your jaw is in its correct position, whether or not the teeth are meeting comfortably. They may be misaligned and need some correction. The goal of your TMJ treatment will be to make your relaxed, correct jaw position permanent. That will permanently relieve you of TMJ pain, including headaches that you may have been suffering from for years.
If you would like to schedule a free neuromuscular dentistry consultation with Dr. Quigless, please call or email our office today. We serve the St. Louis, Missouri area and we look forward to meeting with you.
The Missouri Dental Board and the ADA do not recognize the treatment of TMJ(neuromuscular dentistry) or cosmetic dentistry as a specialty. Further, the ADA does not require any additional training of dentists who perform or advertise these procedures.
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