1. TRAUMA

There are many types of trauma that can lead to dysfunction of your TMJ:

• Grinding of the teeth is extremely common.  Many people clench or grind especially more often if they are stressed from various emotional or physical issues. Grinding or clenching excessively can eventually cause wear and tear on the internal anatomy of the TM joint similar to cracking your knuckles over a lifetime might contribute to arthritis in your fingers.
• Gritting your teeth when you are angry
• Old dentures that have worn down and do not balance the jaws
• A bad bite that makes chewing feel like running a stick over a picket fence

More direct traumas that may lead to TMD could be:

• During general anesthesia when the anesthesiologist has to put a tube down your throat to make sure you wake up from surgery
• Dental extractions where the force necessary to extract teeth may injure the jaw joint.
• Sports injuries where the jaw is struck or even simply where the head is jostled around, or the mouth opened too wide.
• Direct correlation with an accident - The lower jaw (mandible) can be jostled around or displaced during trauma. It may move at a different speed or in a different direction than the larger cranium (skull) and damage to the joint(s) may occur. If this injury exists along with other emotional or physical pain, the jaw joint problem may intesify. We want you to be able to focus on all the issues you may be facing, and do so without added stress.  The problem with TMD is that the more stressed and frustrated you are, the more physical pain you will probably be in. When you are stressed you will grind your teeth or clinch your jaw, this only aggravates and makes an already existing disorder worse.

2. IMPROPER OCCLUSION

3. INFLAMATION OF YOUR TM JOINT

4. GRINDING OR CLENCHING OF YOUR TEETH

5. NEUROMUSCULAR IMBALANCES

6. DISEASES

7. FAMILY HISTORY

8. DIET AND NUTRITION

9. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS