1601 River Drive
Suite 300, Moline, IL 61265
(309) 277-3480
Menu
Beautiful Smile Makeovers, Advanced General Dentistry
Request an Appointment

Are Dentures Causing TMJ?

I’ve been in dentures for about 15 years and it feels like every year my jaw pain feels worse. I went to see a dentist about it and he said that I have TMJ disorder. He thinks it is because of my dentures and recommended that I switch to dental implants. Those are pretty pricey. Is this a legitimate thing or is he just trying to get some money out of a patient with no teeth?

Andrew

Dear Andrew,

Before and after facial collapse.
Before and after the side effects of facial collapse.

 

I want to preface this by saying that I have not examined you, so the information I provide is more general in nature than specific to your case. It is true that you can develop facial collapse from dentures for a couple of reasons. One would be that your dentist made the dentures in such a way that it threw off the proper alignment of your bite. The would become noticeable fairly quickly. Based on what you described yours came on gradually, so I don’t think that is the case for you.

A second way this can occur is from the onset of facial collapse. When you removed your teeth, your body recognized that. Our bodies are extremely efficient. Realizing that you no longer have any teeth to support in your jaw, it will redistribute the minerals in your jawbone to use elsewhere. This has the unfortunate side effect of shrinking your jawbone. In fact, after ten or more years you will no longer have enough jawbone left to keep your dentures in at all. This is known as facial collapse.

As your jaw shrinks, it will affect the temporomandibular joint. This is what helps your jaw move. When your bite changes, the way this joint functions changes too. This can lead to TMJ problems. You’ve been in dentures for 15 years. My guess is, in addition to the jaw pain that you feel, you are starting to have trouble with the dentures themselves. Maybe they’re sliding more than they used to. Or maybe you can’t even keep them in.

Dental implants can fix that. You will need a bone grafting procedure first in order to build back up the lost structure. After that, you can either get removable dentures again, which will restart the whole cycle of facial collapse, or you can get implant supported dentures.

The implants signal to your body that you still have teeth, therefore it needs to leave your jawbone alone. If you go this direction, make sure your implant dentist also has training and experience teaching TMJ. This is so they have the skills to reframe your bite in a way that it has proper occlusion. This should stop your jaw pain.

This blog is brought to you by compassionate dentist in Moline Dr. Thomas Goebel.

Are Crowns a Good Treatment Plan for TMJ Disorder?

I’ve been wearing a splint for TMJ Disorder and it has been helping. The symptoms have eased a bit when I wear them. Now my dentist is suggesting that he crown several of my back teeth. He says that it could completely alleviate my TMJ symptoms. Is this a normal treatment for TMJ? It sounds a bit over the top for me. There’s nothing physically wrong with those teeth. No decay or infections.

Amanda

Dear Amanda.

Diagram of skull side-view with the TMJ area detailed and an enlarged view of the joint, ligament, disk, and condyle

 

Yes, while it may sound extreme. it is a very legitimate way to treat TMJ Disorder. Your teeth don’t have to have decay or have an infection in order to throw off your temporomandibular joint, which is the one that leads to TMJ problems. Having crowns placed correctly, can reposition your bite properly so that you no longer have TMJ pain. In some cases, when a bite is off severely, a dentist will actually crown all of the teeth. This is known as a full-mouth reconstruction.

While it is a legitimate treatment, you have to be careful who does it. There is not a recognized specialty in treating TMJ. Yet, in order to do it correctly, a dentist will need significant post-doctoral training in order to treat it properly. While it sounds like your dentist has some experience with treating TMJ based on the splint, I would still double check the training.

You’d want someone who has training from one of these institutions for post-doctoral training:

  • Spear Education in Scottsdale, Arizona
  • The Pankey Institute in Key Biscayne, Florida
  • The Dawson Academy, with headquarters in Florida but training centers in various states
  • The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies in Las Vegas, Nevada
  • Piper Education and Research Center in Tampa, Florida

If they have training from one of these institutions, you will be in good hands.

This blog is brought to you by an understanding dentist in Moline, Dr. Thomas Goebel.