The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) connects our jaw to our skull. Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is a term used to describe conditions affecting this joint.[ 1 ] These conditions cover a broad range of symptoms, ranging anywhere from stiffness and soreness to a popping sound when you open your mouth, and even lockjaw.
TMJ is relatively common. Some cases are mild enough not to require intervention, but if your TMJ is interfering with your life, we are here to help. In this guide, we’ll examine which causes of TMJ braces can help correct. By the end, we hope you are able to make an informed decision about whether or not pursuing braces could help alleviate your symptoms of TMJ.
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Can Braces Help Correct My Jaw Pain?
The short answer? It depends. The best way to determine whether or not braces could be a viable solution to your TMJ is to first determine the cause of your TMJ — which can be a little bit of a complicated process.
Some causes of TMJ are easier to pinpoint than others. If you get hit in the face and then your jaw hurts, the source of your pain is likely to be pretty clear to you.
But other causes of TMJ are a little more mysterious. In part, this is because many people clench or grind their teeth while they are asleep, resulting in pain from an injury they weren’t even awake to be aware of.[ 2 ] Jaw clenching can also be a stress-related response, so even if it’s happening when we are awake, we may not realize that we are doing it because we are too busy navigating our stress.
If orthodontia is the route your orthodontist or dentist believes is the right course of treatment to relieve your TMJ, then braces are likely a great option for you. Braces are able to treat severe cases of misalignment, so if you need that to get relief from your TMJ, braces will surely have you covered.
Which Causes Can Braces Help With?
As we’ve mentioned, to determine which treatment is the correct response to your TMJ, you need to determine what’s causing your pain in the first place. Determining this can help you and your dentist or orthodontist see if braces can help you.
Dental Malocclusion
When your teeth are properly aligned, all of your teeth are sharing in the work of biting and chewing, and your jaw can usually open and close without any issues. When misalignment occurs, there is an imbalance in your bite that can cause certain teeth, muscles, and joints (TMJ) to be more burdened and stressed than others, often leading to TMD.
Orthodontists customize braces placement to help correct even the most severe cases of misalignment. If alignment is your problem, braces may be a good way to relieve your TMJ.
Bruxism
Bruxism (grinding and clenching your teeth) can be caused by all kinds of things, some of which you might not be aware of. Many people don’t even know that bruxism is an issue for themselves because they clench their jaw while sleeping.[ 3 ] This kind of pressure and overuse can cause soreness and inflammation.
Sometimes bruxism is naturally occurring due to bite misalignment.[ 3 ] Even if your teeth are straight, it’s possible there is a larger bite issue occurring that is causing an imbalance of stress on a few specific teeth. Aligning your smile with braces can help alleviate the stress from those teeth and help the soreness and inflammation fade over time.
Which Causes of TMJ Can Braces Not Help With?
Severe Arthritis of the Jaw
Arthritis is chronic inflammation of the joints. If you’re dealing with severe arthritis, without any sort of misalignment issue, then braces won’t be able to help with your TMJ. Typically, arthritis of the jaw is best treated with physical therapy and medicine.[ 1 ]
Injury
It depends on the injury, of course, but a drastic facial injury usually won’t be pieced back together with a set of braces.[ 1 ] Depending on the severity of the injury, you may need oral or facial reconstruction surgery. These are complicated surgeries that can provide much different results than braces do.
Mental Health Factors
Stress is often the culprit behind TMJ.[ 4 ] Even though braces can help with some bruxism factors, braces won’t get to the root emotional cause behind the stress. If you are dealing with depression or anxiety and it’s causing you to clench your jaw or grind your teeth, it’s important to address the mental health factors that are contributing to this response — as opposed to just treating the symptoms of them (in this case TMJ).
Sleep Apnea
Recent studies suggest that there may be a relationship between sleep apnea and TMJ pain.[ 5 ] This is a relatively new school of thought, but it may be promising for some patients who have tried orthodontics for their TMJ pain and not had favorable results.
How Can I Know for Sure if My Jaw Pain Is TMJ?
TMJ isn’t always an easy disorder to diagnose. The best way to know if your jaw pain is TMJ is to start a dialogue with your dentist. They can examine your teeth to look for signs of excessive wear or inflammation from bruxism. A clinical exam will show if your jaw is clicking or popping on one or both sides. If that doesn’t give them the information they need, they can take various scans of your jaw, like an X-ray or MRI.
The exact measures necessary to discover the cause of your TMJ are largely determined by your particular set of circumstances. With bruxism, it’s likely you won’t need a scan as the wear will be clear on your teeth externally without scans.
How Long Will It Take to Relieve the Pain?
Finding relief from your TMJ through treatment varies greatly from person to person, and largely depends on the severity of your condition. Generally speaking, braces are a long-term solution to your TMJ pain — not an instantaneous one. The average treatment time for braces is 24 months, but it’s likely you’ll start to feel some manner of relief prior to completing treatment.
Wearing a night guard during treatment with braces can help provide you with relief from sleep bruxism. Throughout your braces treatment, your teeth will be moving, so your dentist may need to make a custom appliance to accommodate your shifting bite. There are also over-the-counter options that are more of a one-size-fits-all approach, so check in with your orthodontist and dentist to see if this could be a good option for you during your braces treatment.
Though oftentimes a night guard can provide more immediate results than braces for relieving TMJ pain, sometimes it can still take several months of wear for the pain to subside — so try and be patient if the results aren’t immediate.
How to Make Sure TMJ Doesn’t Come Back After Braces
Braces can align your teeth to make jaw movements occur with ease and prevent disproportionate strain on specific teeth. So how can you make those results last? In a word? Retainers.
After your braces treatment, you’ll need to wear an overnight retainer every night for the rest of your life. This is to ensure your teeth don’t immediately leap out of the positions you worked so hard to move them to. Aftercare retainers can help the longevity of your treatment in other ways, too.
Your overnight retainers can help with some sleep bruxism, acting almost like a night guard (assuming they are the aligner-style retainers). Night guards are usually made of more durable plastic than aftercare retainers, so be sure to note if your bruxism is still severe enough after treatment that it causes damage to your retainers. If this is the case, don’t panic — there are retainers made of more durable plastic and your orthodontist can go over those options with you.
Your retainers will help keep your teeth in their new positions, which will make sure your bite and jaw stay aligned. Getting lax with retainer usage can result in teeth movement, potentially leaving you with a misaligned bite again. It’s important to stay vigilant with retainer usage so your teeth stay in their new pain-free locations.
Final Thoughts
Braces are capable of correcting even the most severe cases of misalignment. So whether your TMJ is being caused by an extreme case of misalignment or even just a mild one, braces may be the right treatment for you!
Braces can also help with bruxism, though it’s unlikely any orthodontist would give you braces if that’s the only issue you are facing — that’s what night guards are for. But braces can accomplish both of these things at once: both realigning your jaw to put less stress on your temporomandibular joint, as well as saving your teeth from bruxism in the process.
The first step towards correcting your TMJ is determining what is causing it. This will help your dentist or orthodontist find the right course of treatment for you and your unique set of circumstances.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between TMJ and TMD?
TMJ is an abbreviation for temporomandibular joint, which is the joint that connects your jawbone to your skull. It has also morphed into a term people use to refer to their joint pain. TMD is an abbreviation for temporomandibular joint disorder, which is technically the more correct way to reference jaw pain, but both are acceptable.
Which is better for treating misalignment: braces or clear aligners?
This largely depends on your particular set of circumstances. If your misalignment is incredibly severe, braces are likely the best route forward for you. However, if your misalignment is on the more moderate side, you could be able to undergo treatment with clear aligners — which are more discreet and typically provide faster results than braces.
Can at-home clear aligners help correct my TMJ?
They can! At-home clear aligners are capable of addressing cases of mild-to-moderate misalignment. So if your case is on the milder side, this could be a convenient option to align your smile and potentially find relief from TMJ.
Can I wear a night guard with braces?
That depends. If you’re just starting treatment, your teeth have a lot of movement still ahead of them — so it won’t make financial sense to spend the money on a night guard that fits your current smile.
However, there are over-the-counter options that are more of a one-size-fits-all approach, so check in with your orthodontist and dentist to see if this could be a good option for you during your braces treatment. Your dentist may also make a custom appliance with enough room to accommodate your shifting teeth.
Can other types of braces (ceramic, lingual) help correct TMJ?
Yes! Though these braces are not able to correct jaw misalignments that are on the severe side, they are absolutely able to correct mild-to-moderate cases of misalignment and can help relieve your TMJ in a more aesthetically discreet way than traditional braces.
If I grind my teeth at night, should I get braces?
If bruxism is your only cause of TMJ, it’s likely there is a simpler treatment route for you, like wearing a night guard or trying methods of de-stressing. Braces are a better fit for someone whose bruxism is due to a misalignment.
What are milder ways to address bruxism?
You can work on de-stressing as a way to hopefully minimize bruxism. Whether that’s practicing deep breathing, meditating, or getting regular exercise. There are also jaw stretches you can do to help ease your tense muscles. Be sure to check with your dentist to see if any of these milder approaches could help you!
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