Treating TMD with orofacial myofunctional therapy.
August 23, 2016 Myofunctional therapy can enhance a patient’s quality of life By Timbrey Lind, RDH, and Shirley Gutkowski, RDH, BSDH Some 2,500 years ago, Hippocrates noted that many people with severe headaches also had crooked teeth. There were no successful treatments until pharmaceuticals came along, which treated the symptoms, not the cause. A temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is a very common problem affecting up to 33% (I think more) of individuals. TMD is often viewed as a repetitive motion disorder and eventual breakdown of the masticatory structures (jaw joint and surrounding muscles). The current perspective is that it’s an orofacial …