TMJ disorder is a painful, and potentially debilitating, condition that affects the muscles and temporomandibular joints in the upper jaw. Those with TMJ often experience muscle tightness and tension in the jaw and the malfunction of the TMJ join which connects the lower jaw to the base of the skull. These conditions often results in mild to severe chronic pain and can make it incredibly difficult to  perform the most basic of movements with the jaw, such as chewing.  Fortunately, there are a variety of different ways in which TMJ can be treated, most of which have been developed by medical professionals and have proven to be highly successful.

One of the simplest forms of TMJ treatment is a soft plastic mouth guard which can be slipped over the teeth to prevent the jaw from clenching and the teeth from grinding. Since TMJ is caused in large part by tightness in the jaw muscles, immediate relief from the pain and tension is often only achieved through the clinching of the jaw and grinding of the teeth. Unfortunately, this also causes the condition to worsen by increasing the tightness in the muscles over time. While the mouth guard may not offer instantaneously relief it is a form of treatment that, if used over time, will gradually reduce the symptoms of TMJ and prevent the disorder from progressing. The mouth guard, which is custom made by a dentist, is also incredibly useful at night when patients with TMJ will grind their teeth and keep their jaw clenched unintentionally while they sleep. Because it is simple and easy the mouth guard is often used to treat TMJ before more serious options are considered, such as TMJ surgery.

In addition to a mouth guard a doctor or dentist will often show a patient with TMJ how to manage the disorder with a series of simple jaw exercises. The exercises consists of different movements that are intended to help releases tension in the muscles and serve as an alternative to the constant jaw clenching and teeth grinding most people resort to in order to deal with jaw tightness. Like the mouth guar, jaw exercises are designed to provide relief over time as well as to prevent the disorder from progressing. Jaw exercises can be especially helpful with those that have TMJ that is caused by alignment or joint problems. If simple methods of treatment such as a mouth guard or jaw exercises are not as effective as hoped a dentist or physician may recommend a more direct approach, such as TMJ surgery or even BOTOX injections.

While TMJ surgery is a more expensive and more drastic option than most other methods of TMJ treatment it is also the only option that offers a permanent solution to the TMJ disorder.

The type of TMJ treatment that a patient receives will depend on the cause of the condition as well as its progression. Those with mild cases of TMJ may undergo a fairly simplistic type of surgery, known as arthroscopy, which is minimally invasive and used to repair small problems without making large incisions or removing large parts of tissue.

Disk repositioning surgery, which is one of the most common types of TMJ surgery, requires that a surgeon make an incision in the jaw in order to reposition the cartilage disk in the temporomandibular joint. In some cases the surgeon will also use this type to make any minor repairs to muscles or ligaments in the jaw as well. Both the cartilage disk and other minor repairs are held in place with stitches that will dissolve over time. Recovery from this procedure often takes less than24 hours, though swelling may be present for some time afterwards.

In severe cases of TMJ when the temporomandibular joint has been damaged upon repair a type of TMJ surgery known as TMJ replacement surgery may be the only viable option. TMJ replacement surgery requires that part of, or the entire, temporomandibular joint be surgically removed and replaced with a new one. When replacing the temporomandibular joint surgeons can either chose to use pieces of bones taken from other parts of the body, such as the ribs, or they can use a metal prosthetic as a replacement.  This is perhaps the most invasive type of TMJ surgery and is generally the last TMJ treatment option to be pursued, primarily because there are so many different risks involved and the fact that recovery time is so much longer than with other types of TMJ surgery.

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