It’s estimated that more than 10 million people suffer from TMJ disorder. This makes it difficult for your jaw to function. The pain and discomfort often lead patients to seek treatment as fast as possible.
But sometimes, patients avoid getting professional help and decide to wait it out instead. This will not only lead to many painful days, but it can also have severe consequences on your overall health and wellness. There’s also no guarantee that the symptoms will decrease without medical intervention.
If you’re wondering if you should seek TMJ treatments, read this guide for insights into what can happen if you don’t.
Poor Oral Health
When you have untreated TMJ, chances are you won’t be completing your oral hygiene tasks as well as you should be. It’s painful to open your jaw entirely. Ensuring you are getting every area of your mouth clean is challenging. That can lead to things like cavities and infections.
TMJ sufferers also often end up grinding their teeth regularly, which will break down the enamel of the teeth and cause even more issues. Seeing a dentist for your TMJ symptoms will help you avoid needing dental work in the future.
Sleep Deprivation
That clenching and grinding TMJ patients do regularly will also interrupt sleep patterns. Instead of sleeping soundly through the night and giving your body the rest it needs, you’ll be woken up regularly from the pain and discomfort.
Many TMJ solutions focus on helping you sleep better through the night since sleep deprivation can cause many lasting health problems. Many health professionals will also offer preventative TMJ solutions to help avoid the pain coming back in the future.
Regular Intense Headaches
Another issue that comes from avoiding TMJ management is regular, intense headaches. Because TMJ causes so much tension in your jaw, neck, and shoulders, many patients report having pain in their heads daily. This can be incredibly disruptive to typical activities, making completing tasks much more difficult.
Alleviating that pressure and tension can eliminate these problems, which is reason enough to seek TMJ treatment.
Problems from Untreated TMJ Disorder
Dealing with TMJ disorder is a very frustrating and painful experience, especially when you let the problem go untreated for too long. The real issue is that the adverse side effects don’t stay within the jaw but spread to all other areas of the body and regular activity.
Leaving the root issue untreated will eventually lead to severe problems that make you unable to participate in your daily life without significant pain. It’s best to seek treatment as soon as your first signs start to avoid these issues.