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.

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.

A Collapsed Bite & TMJ

I have a problem with my smile that has gotten worse over the years. It is always hard to see my teeth, even when I smile. When I don’t smile it looks like inside my mouth is just a black hole. In recent months my jaw has started hurting. I do wear a nightguard because of some clenching and grinding I do. When I am wearing it, my jaw feels a bit better and you can see my smile. I spoke to my dentist about this and he said that he could provide me with porcelain veneers to improve the appearance of my smile. I just wanted to make sure this was my best option before moving forward.

Marilyn

Dear Marilyn,

It sounds to me like you are dealing with a combination of a collapsed bite along with TMJ Disorder. I am glad you are writing now instead of after you spent a fortune on a procedure which does not help. Your dentist may be well intentioned, but porcelain veneers will not solvoe your problem.

This will require advanced TMJ training so a dentist can build your bite back up properly with dental crowns. Make sure he or she does it first with provisional crowns. These are temporary and can be changed as necessary to get the crowns correct. Take that to mean they are comfortable, you like how they look, you can see your smile properly, and you have no trouble with speech as a result. Once the provisionals are correct, then your dentist can make the permanent crowns.

The dentist you choose will need advanced training in TMJ. There is not a TMJ specialty, so you’ll have to do some homework. Look at Dr. Goebel’s TMJ Credentials in order to get an idea of what you want from the dentist in that regard. Some other good training institutions, in addition to what Dr. Goebel has done are the Dawson Academy or the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies.

This blog is brought to you by Moline Dentist Dr. Thomas Goebel.