The Temporomandibular Joint is where your jaw bone meets your skull bone. There are several problems that can develop in this joint as a result from: trauma, locking or dislocation of the jaw and stress related pain.

 

Disorders of the TMJ are categorized under an umbrella term called TMD (TMJ Dysfunction or Disorder). TMD can result in pain in the jaw joint, radiating neck pain, headaches, and pain in the muscles that control jaw movement. This is why most patients with TMD, often experience difficulty with chewing, yawning and talking.

Temporomandibular (TMJ) Arthroscopic Surgery

If a person is suffering from jaw joint pain that has not responded to non-invasive treatments, we may recommend TMJ (temporomandibular joint) arthroscopy. This is a procedure that is done under general anaesthesia and it allows the surgeon to see into the jaw joint before possibly removing or adjusting tissue if necessary, to relieve the patient’s pain. Spectrum Oral Surgery recommends exhausting all non-surgical options prior to considering any TMJ surgical options.

Though TMJ arthroscopy is a surgical procedure, it is minimally invasive. When the general anaesthetic has taken effect and the patient is unconscious, the surgeon makes a small cut just in front of the ear and insert instruments to remove inflamed tissue and rinse the area, or the surgeon may adjust parts of the jaw joint that are misaligned. When non-invasive treatment options are exhausted, your surgeon may recommend TMJ arthroscopy as one of the possible surgical options. Other surgical TMD treatments are arthrocentesis, which involves the insertion of small needles, corticosteroid injections, jaw surgery and open jaw joint surgery. You can discuss with one of our surgeons if the TMJ arthroscopy may be the best surgical option for alleviating your jaw joint problems.

PRF (Platelet Rich Fibrin)

Platelet Rich Fibrin (PRF) can be incorporated into just about every oral surgery procedure: wisdom teeth, tooth extractions, implants, bone grafts, and sinus lifts. Using PRF speeds up how quickly the surgical site heals by stimulating the body to accelerate it’s normal processes. This causes soft tissue (gums) to close faster and it has Bone Morphogenic Proteins (BMPs) that help create new bone quickly. PRF is not just a product, it is a product of YOU. A small amount of blood is drawn, just like giving a sample at your physician’s office, and that blood is centrifuged to concentrate the healing molecules into a clot in the test tube. The clot can be used by itself, mixed into bone grafts, or as a covering to protect the surgical site. This clot is purely you, it’s just the best parts of you, so you cannot be allergic and it jump starts the healing process.

Frenectomy

The frenum is a piece of tissue that occurs either in the upper or lower jaw attaching the lips to the gum tissue between teeth. In some cases it can also attach to the tongue.

A frenectomy in oral surgery is recommended when the frenum excessively pulls on the surrounding tissues and can lead to the development of a midline diastema (spacing between the front teeth), tongue tie or gum recession. The goal of this procedure is to remove the excessive frenum which eliminates the pulling of the surrounding tissues.