Jaw Joint Pain Relief · Dr. Suarez
TMJ / TMD Treatment
Jaw pain, clicking, and tension headaches can wear you down for years before anyone connects them to your jaw joint. Dr. Francisco Suarez, fellowship-trained in TMJ disorders, provides the practice's TMJ care, including Botox® and steroid injection therapy.
Understanding the Condition
What is TMJ / TMD?
Do you ever experience a clicking or popping sound when opening or closing your mouth? Have you been suffering from headaches or migraines and no one seems to be able to help you? Have you been taking pain medicine for years and would like to get off of it? Do you feel any clogging or congestion in one or both of your ears? These are just a few of many symptoms that might be associated with TMD, or Temporomandibular Dysfunction, a common condition affecting the jaw joint or Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ).
TMJ dysfunction, often referred to as TMD, is a disharmony between the way the jaw joint works in an unstrained position and the way the teeth and bite work during those movements. Possible causes of this disharmony include tooth loss, accidents (like whiplash), mal-positioned and/or underdeveloped cranial or jawbones, and perhaps habits like clenching or teeth grinding. Many people go through life suffering from headaches and a variety of facial and neck pains without knowing the ultimate cause, which in many cases is TMJ disorder.
The Temporomandibular Joint
How the jaw joint works
They are the two joints which connect the lower jaw to the temporal bone at the side of the head. If you place your fingers just in front of your ears and open your mouth, you can feel the joint on each side of the head. Because these joints are flexible, the jaw can move smoothly up and down and side to side, enabling us to talk, chew and yawn. When the TMJ is not functioning normally and it is not within its physiological limits, it creates a condition called TMD, or Temporomandibular Dysfunction.
TMD is a group of conditions resulting from not having a normal function or "comfortable" positioning of the TMJ, and will present as a cycle of pain, muscle spasms and jaw problems. When teeth are missing, out of alignment, crowded or misshaped, chewing and biting cannot be achieved in a balanced way, so the TMJ and the muscles of chewing try to compensate for this unbalanced movement which results in symptoms that will confirm the presence of TMD.
TMD falls into three main categories:
- Myofascial pain, the most common form of TMD, which is discomfort or pain in the muscles that control jaw functions and the neck and shoulder muscles.
- Internal derangement of the joint meaning a dislocated or displaced disc or injury to the condyle (the rounded part at the end of the jaw bone).
- Degenerative joint disease such as Osteoarthritis or Rheumatoid Arthritis in the jaw joint.
How We Treat It
TMJ treatment with Dr. Suarez
Dr. Suarez provides the practice's TMJ care. He completed fellowship training in temporomandibular joint disorders at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, and he will take the time to find out why your jaw hurts before treating it.
Your evaluation starts with your history and symptoms, an examination of your jaw joint, muscles, and bite, and imaging where it helps, including in-house 3D CBCT imaging. From there, Dr. Suarez builds a treatment plan around your diagnosis:
- Botox® injection therapy to relax overworked jaw muscles that drive clenching, tension, and muscle-related pain.
- Steroid injection therapy to reduce inflammation in the joint itself.
- Practical guidance on habits, triggers, and self-care that support relief between visits.
If your diagnosis calls for care outside our scope, such as an orthotic appliance or restorative work through your dentist, Dr. Suarez will say so plainly and point you to the right provider. The goal is your relief, wherever it comes from.
Your TMJ Specialist
Meet Dr. Francisco Suarez
UCLA-trained oral & maxillofacial surgeon with fellowship training in orthognathic surgery, TMJ disorders, and oral pathology at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles.
Stop living around your jaw pain
A focused evaluation can identify what is driving your symptoms and whether injection therapy can help.