Temporomandibular joint disorder is a serious condition that can significantly impact a person’s quality of life. While their friends and family enjoy their lives, TMD sufferers endure a myriad of debilitating symptoms, including jaw pain, chewing difficulties, headaches and more.
Because they are desperate to get back to a normal, TMD patients are often willing to give anything a try. While some resort to unproven, alternative remedies, such as acupuncture, massage and yoga; a few turn to invasive surgical procedures that make permanent changes to the jaw joint.
What it Entails
TMJ surgery is nothing to take lightly. Painful, invasive and frightening to many, this type of surgical procedure aims to alleviate jaw problems in one of two ways. In some cases, surgeons will attempt to restore normal jaw function by removing tissue and/or bone. Other times, they will replace the natural jaw joint with an artificial man-made joint that functions somewhat similarly to the natural temporomandibular joint.
For an example of what TMJ surgery can look like, view the following video:
Does it Work?
Unfortunately, TMD surgery comes with plenty of unwanted side-effects. First off, because it is so invasive, surgery causes substantial pain. It also results in extended periods of downtime that can cause patients to miss work. Perhaps most importantly, TMJ surgery doesn’t always work; in fact, many times, patients experience no relief at all, despite undergoing a serious surgical procedure that makes irreversible changes to their bodies.
A Better Way
If you have TMJ disorder, Dr. Berry can provide permanent TMD relief without using invasive methods that inspire fear and pain. By realigning his patients’ misaligned bites, Dr. Berry corrects the root cause of temporomandibular joint disorder, all without the unpleasant side-effects associated with surgery. To learn more, please call (303) 691-0267 at the TMJ Therapy & Sleep Center of Colorado in Denver today.
