TMJ Exercises
Many people often experience stress that can eventually lead to soreness and pain in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) as a result of clenching or grinding their teeth during the day, or at night while sleeping.
It is important to practice proper oral rest posture whenever you are at rest (not eating, talking.) This means lips are closed, teeth are slightly apart (not touching together at all), and the tongue is resting at the roof of mouth, gently behind front teeth. If you experience a flare up of jaw/teeth soreness as a result of possible clenching/grinding, we have linked some stretches and exercises on the tabs below that you can do to help alleviate the discomfort, and relax the muscles of your face and jaw that have a lot of tension.
If you are experiencing jaw soreness, please contact us and schedule an appointment with Dr. Jones. She will evaluate you and let you know what is best for your personal case. Sometimes it is as simple as being mindful of your oral rest posture throughout the day. Other times, we may need to make you a custom occlusal guard, or we may recommend seeing a massage or physical therapist who specializes in TMJ/TMD.
Below are two helpful documents to help with therapeutic techniques and self-care measures:
It is important to practice proper oral rest posture whenever you are at rest (not eating, talking.) This means lips are closed, teeth are slightly apart (not touching together at all), and the tongue is resting at the roof of mouth, gently behind front teeth. If you experience a flare up of jaw/teeth soreness as a result of possible clenching/grinding, we have linked some stretches and exercises on the tabs below that you can do to help alleviate the discomfort, and relax the muscles of your face and jaw that have a lot of tension.
If you are experiencing jaw soreness, please contact us and schedule an appointment with Dr. Jones. She will evaluate you and let you know what is best for your personal case. Sometimes it is as simple as being mindful of your oral rest posture throughout the day. Other times, we may need to make you a custom occlusal guard, or we may recommend seeing a massage or physical therapist who specializes in TMJ/TMD.
Below are two helpful documents to help with therapeutic techniques and self-care measures:
