Many people are not unfamiliar with temporomandibular joint dislocation (commonly known as jaw drop), but few people have heard of temporomandibular joint disorder. However, in recent years, we have admitted many patients with this disease to our dental ward. Because people know so little about this disease, they don’t even think of it as a disease and often pay attention to it only when it is so serious that they need to be hospitalized for surgery. So, what exactly is TMJ disorder? And how should we deal with it? I. What is TMJ disorder? Temporomandibular joint disorder is one of the common diseases of the oral and maxillofacial area. It occurs in young adults and has a higher incidence in women. When you have one of the following symptoms, you should be alerted to whether you are suffering from this disease. 1. Temporomandibular joint pain Generally, the joint is not painful without a cause. The pain when the joint is disordered is not obvious when you wake up in the morning, but will slowly increase with daily activities and eating, and in heavy cases it will be accompanied by toothache and headache. 2, abnormal joint function For example, the opening is too large or too small, or suddenly “stuck” when opening and closing the mouth, and some people can clearly see that the corners of the mouth are crooked when opening the mouth, these are abnormal joint function. 3, joint noise When opening or closing the mouth, you suddenly hear a “thumping” sound. Second, the cause of TMJ disorder? Some people may ask, “Why is this happening to the joint? When you visit the dentist, the dentist will ask you about your medical history in detail, so be sure to think about it carefully and tell the truth. 1, occlusal factors Teeth have excessive wear, too many missing molar teeth, bad dentures, recent dental visits for bad restorations or too high dental cushions to increase the distance between the teeth, etc., making the internal structure of the joint out of balance, which can lead to temporomandibular joint disorders. 2, trauma factors grinding teeth at night, like to bite hard objects, chewing gum for a long time, cold stimulation of the face, fighting with others to hurt the face, going to the beauty salon for beauty care resulting in minor trauma, suddenly biting hard objects or yawning when opening the mouth too wide, these can lead to joint strain and contusion, masticatory muscle dysfunction and induce this disease. 3, other factors Modern people due to the pace of life makes too nervous, emotional agitation, etc., is also easy to trigger this disease factors. How to deal with TMJ disorder? 1, correct bad habits learn to relax mentally, excessive tension can be supplemented with medication, into a softer food, it is best not to eat chewing gum, and those who grind their teeth at night can wear clenching pads to sleep. 2, timely consultation If the onset of the disease should go to the oral clinic as soon as possible, joint pain can follow medical advice to take painkillers, but also feasible lidocaine joint cavity closed injection. 3.Surgical treatment The early stage of the disease can choose conservative treatment, but if the development of osteoarthrosis, seriously affect the life of those who have to undergo surgery. Temporomandibular joint disorder often has a cyclical onset, especially when particularly emotionally stressful, so if the onset of the disease should go to the oral clinic as soon as possible, so that you can be protected from this seemingly non-disease!