{"id":44,"date":"2019-09-27T20:51:23","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T20:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleepsnoringtmj.com\/blog\/?p=44"},"modified":"2020-12-09T16:52:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T16:52:20","slug":"tmj-treatment-and-sleep-apnea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/27\/tmj-treatment-and-sleep-apnea\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does Sleep Apnea Have to Do with Your TMJ Disorder?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Are you having\ntrouble sleeping through the night without even realizing it? The American\nSleep Apnea Association estimates that roughly 22 million Americans have sleep apnea,\nand about 80% of moderate to severe cases are undiagnosed. But as problematic\nas this disorder can be, it can also be connected to other conditions, such as\nchronic jaw pain. Read on to learn why someone suffering from sleep apnea might\nalso need TMJ treatment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How Can Sleep Apnea Be Connected to a TMJ Disorder?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Patients who have obstructive sleep apnea experience pauses\nin their breathing multiple times each night due to the airway becoming\nblocked. Not only does this lead to poor quality rest (as the body will keep\nwaking up so that it can breathe), but over time it might contribute to high\nblood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and other potentially deadly issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, if you have a TMJ disorder (a problem\nwith the temporomandibular joint that lets the mouth open and close), you could\nsuffer from chronic pain in the jaw, ears and head. You might also find it\ndifficult to chew properly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how can these conditions be connected? There could\nactually be many different reasons. Sometimes sleep apnea might share an\nunderlying cause with a TMJ disorder; for example, a misaligned jaw could cause\nyour airway to be blocked while you\u2019re asleep and at the same time lead to\nclenching and grinding of the teeth (which can have a negative effect on the\nTMJ). In other cases, sleep apnea could actually cause a TMJ disorder. This is\nbecause when the airway collapses, the body\u2019s automatic response is to push the\nlower jaw forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One study even found that 43% of patients who had a TMJ\ndisorder also had sleeping problems. If you have jaw pain or headaches that\njust won\u2019t go away, especially in the morning, you might want to think about\nhaving a sleep study done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So What Can You Do About These Conditions?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, there\u2019s a solution that can treat TMJ disorders at\nthe same time as sleep apnea: oral appliance therapy. An oral appliance is worn\nat night to position the jaw into a comfortable resting place. By moving the\njaw and tongue forward, it\u2019ll prevent your breathing from becoming obstructed.\nIt also serves as effective temporomandibular joint treatment by taking the\nstrain off of your jaw. Overall, you\u2019ll notice that the quality of your life\nwill start to substantially improve over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, your dentist needs to diagnose your conditions\nbefore deciding what the best course of treatment is. If you\u2019ve been dreaming\nof a better night\u2019s sleep and a life free of constant pain, schedule a\nconsultation today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Author<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Mitch Conditt has firsthand experience in using oral\nappliance therapy for his own sleep apnea. He is now proud to use the treatment\nto help other patients in Fort Worth who experience jaw pain and poor-quality\nsleep on a regular basis. To schedule a consultation at his practice, visit his\nwebsite<\/a> or call\n(817) 527-8500.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you having trouble sleeping through the night without even realizing it? The American Sleep Apnea Association estimates that roughly 22 million Americans have sleep apnea, and about 80% of moderate to severe cases are undiagnosed. But as problematic as this disorder can be, it can also be connected to other conditions, such as chronic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}