What Treatment is Right for You?
Dr. Pine treats TMJ dysfunction with OrthoStop, and Emryl Guard to reduce extreme muscle overuse at night. These appliances are meant to reduce your clenching, and grinding ability by 70-80%. People exert chewing pressure of 68 pounds per square inch. Studies have shown clenching and grinding at night to be at 600 to 900 pounds per square inch. This leads to extreme muscle overuse Of the jaw muscles, neck muscles, upper back muscles, and skull muscles. Quite often, to further reduce muscle overuse, physical therapy is needed in conjunction with OrthoStop and Emryl Guard.
Very few physical therapists do a myofascial release of the jaw muscles which is key to success. Dr. Pine is one of the few who treats TMJ dysfunction and uses a physical therapist to enhance the success of the treatment. A night guard will not work, it is not grounded in science.
The other concept of treatment is appliances that change your bite. This treatment is more expensive more time consuming, and more involved. These cases usually involved trauma to the jaw joint anatomical problems of the joint or an extremely poor bite. Almost all of the time the problem is usually muscle overuse while sleeping, or clenching during the day. If your case needs the bite to be changed this will be diagnosed, and you will be referred to the proper dentist to do that.
Dr. Pine and his physical therapist are one of the few who have treated tinnitus and pressure in the ear successfully. Clenching, and grinding can be the cause of tinnitus and pressure in the ear.