Proactive Treatment of TMJ Pain

• —  Avoid activity that overuses your jaw muscles
  • Examples: Clenching and chewing on pencils, pens and fingernails
• —  Avoid wide mouth opening greater than 3 finger widths
• —  Avoid hard food, and cut hard and tough food into smaller pieces
• —  Chew evenly on both sides with the back molars
• —  Chewing on the involved side of your jaw may actually feel better for some people
• —  Sit up tall when eating. Don’t bend down toward your food. The jaw and the neck work closely together. If the neck is in a bad position, so is the jaw.
• —  Avoid a forward head posture (sticking your chin forward). This affects the jaw position as well
• —  If one of the problems you are having is with your jaw moving too much from one side to the other, avoid side sleeping as it causes the same motion to occur.
• —  Avoid movements that produce clicking or locking
• —  When your mouth is in a resting position, your tongue should not be pressing against your back teeth. It should only lightly touch. Your teeth should also not be clenched.
• —  Seek dental intervention and routine check ups for jaw pain