TMJ disorder, or temporomandibular joint disorder, is a common condition that impacts the joints controlling the opening and closing of the mouth. When you have this condition, problems like jaw clicking, locking, and soreness are commonplace. This can make it difficult to get traditional braces, but not so with invisible braces. Here's why.
The Problem With Traditional Braces
To be clear, traditional braces can potentially help with TMJ. They realign the teeth and make the bite more even, which can take the stress and pressure off of the temporomandibular joints. But this is only possible after months or even years of treatment, and there's no rest period in between. When you have a bad day with your TMJ, you're stuck struggling with both the pain of the TMJ and the added discomfort of your braces pulling or pushing on your teeth.
The Convenience of Invisible Braces
Invisible braces can be taken off at any time, which makes a big difference for someone with TMJ. When your jaw is tight and sore and you need relief, you can take the invisible braces off and just let your jaw rest. While this will slow down your treatment protocol if you do it often enough, taking a break every now and then isn't a bad thing.
When you take your invisible braces off, focus on relaxing and stretching the muscles around your temporomandibular joints. Use gentle self-massage techniques and roll your neck from side to side to loosen everything up before you put your invisible braces back on.
If you still find that the discomfort of your TMJ makes wearing your invisible braces uncomfortable during the day, you can talk to your dentist about only wearing them at night. This lets you sleep through any discomfort and lets you be awake without any additional strain on your joints.
Invisible braces are also less likely to cause jaw pain from the start. Since they're designed to move each tooth individually, they don't require the same kind of pulley system of multiple brackets looped through a single wire that traditional braces use. This means you're far less likely to feel the kind of pulling and strain on your jaw that you would with traditional braces.
If you've been putting off getting braces because you're worried about your jaw, don't be. Just get invisible braces and reap the benefits without any of the negatives that traditional braces can cause for people with TMJ disorder.
To learn more about Invisalign and other options for invisible braces, talk to a dentist.
Share16 March 2020
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