Tinnitus means ringing in the ears and many patients with TMJ problems experience chronic tinnitus. If you hit someone's arm, all the muscles in the area where you hit tighten, not just the muscle you actually hit. The jaw joint is right in front of the ear and when there is tightening of the muscles in and around the jaw joint, the small muscles inside the middle ear can also tighten. This often causes tinnitus.

          Patients with TMJ problems often have a joint that is badly aligned and pushes backwards towards the ears. Unfortunately, the back of a human jaw joint has a lot of very sensitive tissue that hurts when it is compressed. A patient's body often tries to correct this problem by pulling the jaw joint forward and this takes muscle power. Unfortunately, muscles were not designed to hold bones in one place for much time. As a result, an overworked muscle first goes into spasm, begins to hurt, gets inflamed and next begins to shorten and get hard. Every other muscle in the area is usually effected.

          It is not uncommon for TMJ patients to enjoy relief from their tinnitus after one to six weeks of TMJ therapy. This is because the cause of the tinnitus with TMJ patients is the compression of the back of the joint. A dental appliance prevents a patient from biting all the way and so protects the tissues in the back of the joint. The muscles can then relax and can include the muscles inside the middle ear that are related to tinnitus.

          If you have tinnitus and would like to speak with a dentist, please consider scheduling a consultant by calling 404-874-7428.