Causes Of TMJ - TMJ Causes

TMJ may be caused by trauma: a child may fall on its sacrum and in time, through the adaptive body mechanisms, the pelvic imbalance can affect the TMJ, head and neck.
According to Dr. Gerald Smith, a specialist in the field of structural dentistry, dental work specially improperly fitting braces or orthodontia-is the cause of many TMJ problems:

Chronic headaches, scalp tenderness, pains behind the eyes, muffled ear sounds, ringing, hissing or other ear distortions, balance problems, nausea, facial tightness, cervical or lower back pain or restriction of neck motion should all be thoroughly investigated for possible implication in cranial distortions, especially if they appear within days after braces are placed.... These same symptoms may surface within a period of six months to several years.

According to Dr. Daryl Curl, who holds degrees in both dentistry and chiropractic, orthotics (braces, crowns, etc.) may contribute to or worsen a patient's head-pain complaint?

Sometimes the head pains caused by ill-fitting dental work can be quite intense. One (very!) dramatic example of the lengths to which dental patients can go to relieve poor-fitting dental appliances is recounted by Dr. Smith:

Periodically we hear reports of bizarre orthodonticpatient behavior. These are the individuals who have forced orthodontists or general dentists to remove their braces at gun point. Pain and spasm of the neck have been shown to cause many symptoms that mimic TMJ dysfunction, among them facial pain, spasm and inflammation of the face.

TMJ may be caused by trauma of many kinds, not only those directly affecting the head and jaw and not only those of recent origin.