A lot of the time, Invisalign is talked about in the context of cosmetic dentistry. Straightening your smile has obvious aesthetic benefits, but there are serious health boons to Invisalign treatment as well.
For example, you may have heard of TMD, a disorder affecting the joint connecting the jaw to the face. The relationship between Invisalign treatment and this condition can be complicated, so if you want to know more, here’s some information that you may find interesting.
What Is TMD, Anyway?
The temporomandibular joints, or TMJ, connect the jaw to the face. These joints are located right next to the ears, and despite their smile size, they’re capable of withstanding a tremendous amount of force. However, in some situations, these joints can come out of alignment and cause what’s known as a TMJ Disorder, or TMD.
TMDs can cause jaw pain, teeth grinding, a clicking jaw while opening your mouth, and even seemingly strange symptoms like vertigo and nausea.
Can Invisalign Treat TMD?
There are specialized orthodontics used to bring the jaw into alignment, and these are used to treat substantial or debilitating TMD. While Invisalign isn’t quite as effective as oral appliances that are specifically designed to treat this issue, they can potentially ameliorate some of its symptoms.
Invisalign aligners are designed to straighten the teeth, and with the accompaniment of specialized attachments, can draw the top and bottom jaw together in order to treat overbites. If an over- or underbite is exacerbating your TMD, dealing with these issues could potentially ease some of your symptoms.
As was mentioned before, teeth grinding is also a common problem for people with TMD. Over time, this can become significant enough that the teeth are actually ground down, becoming shorter over time. Invisalign aligners are made of durable plastic and are worn during sleep, which means that they can protect your teeth from the worst effects of teeth grinding.
While Invisalign can’t completely eliminate the worst parts of severe TMD, it can do a lot to improve your symptoms. If you have TMD and could benefit from straighter teeth as well, Invisalign could help you knock out two birds with one stone.
About Our Practice
Welcome to the practice of Mark Gray DDS! If you’ve ever struggled to find a dental practice where you can feel completely at home, we’re happy to say that you don’t have to look any further. We offer our patients compassionate, personalized dental care so that you can be sure that you’ll feel completely comfortable for the duration of your stay with us. We also have a recently refurbished dental office so we can be sure that you’ll get the most efficient dental care possible.
If you have any questions about Invisalign treatment, we can be reached at our website or by phone at (281) 493-9395.