TMJ Treatment Northern Arizona

Jaw Pain, Headaches, & Bad Sleep

On top of persistent exhaustion, another common sign of sleep apnea is chronic jaw pain and frequent headaches/migraines. As you can imagine, most people wouldn’t consider this type of pain to stem from bad sleep, but the conditions are deeply connected. Thankfully, treating one often resolves the other! To learn more about this often-overlooked relationship, and how our team at Sleep Better Southwest can help with TMJ treatment in Northern Arizona, keep reading.

Why Choose Sleep Better Southwest for TMJ Treatment?

Led by a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine

Custom-Made Oral Appliances for Each Patient

Fast Pain Relief with Laser Treatment

Illustrated x ray of a head with the jawbone highlighted red

What is TMJ Disorder?

If you wiggle your jaw from side to side, you’ll feel your TMJ (temporomandibular joint) in front of your ears. This is what allows it to move in all directions whenever you speak, eat, or laugh. Just like your knee, elbow, or shoulder, this joint can become strained and develop frequent pain and stiffness. Any condition that affects the TMJ is known as a TMJ disorder, or TMD.

Man wincing and holding his jaw in pain before T M J treatment

What Can Cause TMJ Pain?

Several factors can lead to TMJ pain, but a major one is sleep apnea. Basically, as a person struggles to breathe throughout the night, their body naturally tries to open the upper airway. This can lead to a lot of excessive movement in the jaw as well as teeth grinding. Eventually, the muscles tire themselves out and become sore, which is why everything feels so unpleasant when you wake up.

Two dentists looking at an x ray of a patients jaws and teeth

How We Diagnose TMJ Problems

For patients who may be dealing with TMD, we can perform an evaluation known as Bio Joint Vibration Analysis. For this, Dr. Held places a small device on either side of your TMJ and has you move your mouth around in a specific pattern. This device records any sounds the joint makes. By evaluating a readout on a nearby monitor (that he’ll go over with you), Dr. Held can clearly see if there is any damage or resistance in the joint that could be a source of discomfort. This serves as the first step toward providing a solution.

Woman wincing while holding her jaw in pain

TMJ Treatment Options

Often, helping a patient breathe better is all that’s needed to relieve their TMD, but others require a more direct approach.

Smiling woman placing a clear occlusal splint tray over her teeth

Occlusal Splints

This is a specially made mouthguard worn only to bed that serves multiple purposes. It prevents the teeth from grinding together, and it places the jaw in a position so that the facial muscles remain relaxed throughout the night. This allows them to finally rest and heal so a patient can eventually wake up pain-free.

Laser Treatment

Some solutions for TMD can take a little while before someone feels their effects, but in the meantime, we can use MLS and Red Cold Lasers to deliver immediate relief. Exposure to this light energy reduces inflammation, increases blood flow, and gives a patient a fast and welcome respite that will help them remain comfortable while a more robust and long-term treatment tackles the root cause.

More to Explore

What is Sleep Apnea? Sleep Testing Oral Appliance Treatment Myofunctional Therapy Exercises View Our Services