Dr. Deepa Jayashankar Podcast

Pain in the temporomandibular joint is a common  problem most of the patients comes to us. There are things you have to check. What is the quality of pain, what is  the frequency of  pain and what  is the  onset of pain, means when did it start? How often it comes and what is the kind of pain you are  getting because most of the times the temporomandibular joint pain  is more than   just a joint pain itself. There are a   lot of comorbidities associated  like obstructive sleep apnea and there is also certain issues like arthritis, psoriasis, temporomandibular joint  disorders, hyperflexibiltiy of   joint itself. So there are  lot of reasons why there is pain in the . Secondly what is the onset? If it has started post dental treatment. So  sometimes if you  try to alter the somatognathic system  and if it  has  not done well, like if it  is a faulty restoration,  faulty  bridge or a badly done crown, those are things  that  can cause pain in the  temporomandibular joint. So we have  to see onset of pain. It has cormodibidity with other  issues and the pain comes and goes and the  patient tries to live with it, but if it is a sudden pain, like a  shooting pain, then it is most of the times post dental treatment. So we have to see what caused  that  pain or what triggered sensation in the  joint.  If it is a faulty dental treatment, you can always correct it, but if it is because of a co morbidity, then we have to tackle the main problem   before we come to the joint, as in like if the patient has  arthritis, psoriasis  or a sharp shooting pain is mostly it is because of trigeminal neuralgia  and neurovascular or neuropathic  pain which  can  be  associated  with many  other  structures of the oral cavity, the  face, the  head. Most of these  patients  have  headaches  along with joint pain, then  we have  to take  proper history and   have  to decide  why  the pain is coming, what is  the onset, what is  the  quality and treat  them accordingly. Definitely there is  treatment. If it is a non dental pain or a dental pain, we have to segregate that.