{"id":1564,"date":"2015-09-15T07:21:25","date_gmt":"2015-09-15T07:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mygreatsmile.com\/?p=1564"},"modified":"2025-03-27T05:06:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T05:06:46","slug":"curious-about-tmj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/","title":{"rendered":"CURIOUS ABOUT TMJ?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Clicking and cracking and popping, oh my.<\/em><br \/>\nAches, pains and discomforts can be a normal part of life or they may signal a more serious problem. Jaw pain and popping is one of those annoying discomforts.<\/p>\n<p>Temporoalmandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ), is a common condition suffered by over 10 million Americans. It\u2019s caused by improper alignment of the jaw which can result in jaw pain and other discomforts.<\/p>\n<p>There are specialized joints in the jaw which are responsible for ease of movement and strength. These joints are needed to eat, talk, yawn and open and close your mouth.<br \/>\nAlthough TMJ is common, it can make simple jaw movements painful and annoying.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>For some, TMJ is temporary and its symptoms resolve on their own or with some DIY care.<\/li>\n<li>For others, TMJ can cause chronic pain and needs to be addressed professionally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What are the symptoms?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1565 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg\" alt=\"Neuromuscular Dentistry\" width=\"300\" height=\"263\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/dental-pain.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>In addition to jaw pain and stiffness, you may be dizzy, have headaches, neck and shoulder pain, eye discomfort, ringing in your ears, jaw locking and other types of pain and numbness.<br \/>\nSometimes TMJ manifests in the hands and the back. In the most extreme cases, people with TJM can barely move their jaw.<\/p>\n<p>However, even in combination, these symptoms may not mean you have TMJ.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/meet-our-dentists.html\">Dr. Peck<\/a> specializes in Neuromuscular Dentistry, which seeks to cure TMJ by retraining tissues, muscles and nerves into proper alignment. Dr. Peck can evaluate your symptoms to suggest the best treatment options for you.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you have a lot of pain to a little cracking, you can start with some home care:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Stretch your jaw, neck and shoulders often<br \/>\n\u2022 Perform relaxation exercises to help eliminate jaw clenching<br \/>\n\u2022 Avoid hard-to-chew or crunchy foods<br \/>\n\u2022 Apply heat or cold packs<br \/>\n\u2022 Dr. Peck may also recommend that you:<br \/>\n\u2022 Wear a mouth guard at night to stop teeth grinding<br \/>\n\u2022 Take anti-inflammatory painkillers or stronger, prescription medication if needed<\/p>\n<p>When simple measures don\u2019t make a difference in your symptoms, Taylor Street Dental can help you with a more involved treatment plan. To learn more about neuromuscular dentistry, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/contact.html\">contact<\/a> our offices at 413.241.3264.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clicking and cracking and popping, oh my. Aches, pains and discomforts can be a normal part of life or they may signal a more serious problem. Jaw pain and popping is one of those annoying&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tmj"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CURIOUS ABOUT TMJ? - Taylor Street Dental<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Aches, pains &amp; discomforts can be a normal part of life or they may signal a more serious problem. Jaw pain &amp; popping is one of those annoying discomforts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"CURIOUS ABOUT TMJ? - Taylor Street Dental\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Aches, pains &amp; discomforts can be a normal part of life or they may signal a more serious problem. Jaw pain &amp; popping is one of those annoying discomforts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Henley\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/087f9f8bd20605b016fdeb26719aa60e\"},\"headline\":\"CURIOUS ABOUT TMJ?\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-15T07:21:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-27T05:06:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":349,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"TMJ\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/\",\"name\":\"CURIOUS ABOUT TMJ? - Taylor Street Dental\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-15T07:21:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-27T05:06:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/087f9f8bd20605b016fdeb26719aa60e\"},\"description\":\"Aches, pains & discomforts can be a normal part of life or they may signal a more serious problem. Jaw pain & popping is one of those annoying discomforts.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/curious-about-tmj\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CURIOUS ABOUT TMJ?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Taylor Street Dental\",\"description\":\"Cosmetic Dentists Springfield, MA\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mygreatsmile.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/087f9f8bd20605b016fdeb26719aa60e\",\"name\":\"Henley\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CURIOUS ABOUT TMJ? - Taylor Street Dental","description":"Aches, pains & discomforts can be a normal part of life or they may signal a more serious problem. Jaw pain & popping is one of those annoying discomforts.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"CURIOUS ABOUT TMJ? - Taylor Street Dental","twitter_description":"Aches, pains & discomforts can be a normal part of life or they may signal a more serious problem. Jaw pain & popping is one of those annoying discomforts.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/"},"author":{"name":"Henley","@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/087f9f8bd20605b016fdeb26719aa60e"},"headline":"CURIOUS ABOUT TMJ?","datePublished":"2015-09-15T07:21:25+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-27T05:06:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/"},"wordCount":349,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg","articleSection":["TMJ"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/","name":"CURIOUS ABOUT TMJ? - Taylor Street Dental","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg","datePublished":"2015-09-15T07:21:25+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-27T05:06:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/087f9f8bd20605b016fdeb26719aa60e"},"description":"Aches, pains & discomforts can be a normal part of life or they may signal a more serious problem. Jaw pain & popping is one of those annoying discomforts.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/dental-pain-300x263.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/curious-about-tmj\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CURIOUS ABOUT TMJ?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/","name":"Taylor Street Dental","description":"Cosmetic Dentists Springfield, MA","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/087f9f8bd20605b016fdeb26719aa60e","name":"Henley"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1564"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3853,"href":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1564\/revisions\/3853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mygreatsmile.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}