Dental Health Check with Dr. Linda Niessen
Dental health topics from Dr. Linda Niessen of Baylor College of Dentistry
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 Morning Pain

By Web Communications
Baylor College of Dentistry
The Texas A&M Health Science Center
Monday, December 18, 2006

STORY:  Morning Pain
SCRIPT # 708  SHOOT:  11/8/06
AIRDATE:   Monday, Dec. 11, 2006
DHC MASTER #18  Timecode: 56:50

Do you wake up in the morning with head, neck or jaw pain? You may have a disorder shared by about 11 million Americans, most of them women. Dr. Linda Niessen looks at symptoms and new treatment for T-M-J in today’s segment of Dental Health Check.

T-M-J refers to the temporomandibular joint in the jaw. Sharon Daily has searched for 15 years for relief from facial pain related to T-M-J. “Severe headaches, just severe headaches. And all around the joints they were very tender," said patient Sharon Daily. "A lot of muscular pain and nerve pain. There was a sense of burning, so that you didn’t even want to put on make-up.”

Years ago, doctors operated on the jaw joints of patients like Sharon. But most surgeries were unsuccessful. They often made the disorder worse. Sharon added, “You just have to learn to become your own advocate really.”
 
Today, dentists and physicians treat the problem, temporomandibular dysfunction, also called T-M-D, with new medications and non-surgical therapy. Dr. Richard Riggs, board certified orofacial pain specialist, said “Patients that we see, it’s a variable in types of treatment. Some people we may just put on exercises. Some people may just use medications to improve sleep parameters. Some people may need appliances. The most common cause I would say would have to be sleep deprivation, sleep disorders.”

You shouldn’t have to suffer from chronic facial pain. New treatments can drastically improve the quality of your life. And a dentist with extensive special training in orofacial pain is the best place to start. For Baylor College of Dentistry, Texas A&M Health Science Center, I’m Dr. Linda Niessen, Channel 8 News.

Dr. Linda Niessen, clinical professor in the Department of Restorative Sciences and  the Office of Communications and Development at Baylor College of Dentistry, hosts Dental Health Check, the only weekly dental feature shot on location in the nation.

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