This summary is based on the article published in the Journal of the American Dental Association: Acute posttraumatic jaw pain (June 2014)
Harold F. Menchel, DMD
Main Points
- Acute post-traumatic jaw pain is one of the most common temporomandibular disorders, and it can be treated easily in primary care dental offices. The problem is that many dentists believe that all or most temporomandibular disorders are occlusal disorders that are caused by various occlusal disharmonies.
- This may reflect a misunderstanding of the specific nature of this traumatic condition. Patients who temporarily have this condition temporarily have unstable bites as a consequence of their injuries.
- Therefore, any occlusal correction used as the initial treatment is contraindicated, as the patient’s occlusion will revert to normal after resolution of the
- inflammation. Most cases of acute posttraumatic jaw pain resolve in a matter of weeks. If pain persists longer, further imaging and evaluation may be necessary.
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You are correct that an acute event will become less acute in the weeks after a head neck trauma such as a Motor Vehicle Accident.
Palliative care for any soft tissue injury is very important and Health Care Professionals such as NUCCA Chiropractors, masseuses and physiotherapists are valuable resources for dentists to have in order to help their patients’ healing process.
But to expect that the function and comfort and stability of a pre-trauma stomatognathic system will return after a trauma is hopeful at best. Many patients have a TMJ system that is already compromised and strained to it’s limit prior to any trauma. The added damage is often enough to advance the TMJ/neuromuscular dysfunction and decrease the patient’s ability to cope.
And since the patient’s occlusion is what determines how the neuromuscular system functions and dictates the actual terminal endpoint of the TMJ, to ignore the contributory affect of the occlusion may limit the success of the rehabilitation of the patient’s pain and dysfunction.