Researchers are hailing a new treatment for temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMD, as a breakthrough that could lead to new methods of care. While it remains experimental, there is great hope it may someday be available from dental professionals like Sleep Apnea & TMJ Solutions in Brentwood TN.
The TM joint (TMJ) connects the jaw to the skull. TMD typically consists of pain or popping sounds when a patient opens and closes the jaw. It affects some ten million Americans, most of them women in their childbearing years.
First reported in MedicalXpress.com in June 2018, the new treatment involves a tissue implant. “We were able to show that we could achieve exceptional healing of the TMJ area after eight weeks of treatment,” said Kyriacos Athanasiou, a biomedical engineering professor at the University of California, Irvine.
The research team used rib tissue from animals to tissue-engineer jaw disc cartilage, which connects two key jawbones. This produced new cartilage they surgically placed into an affected jaw of an animal test subject. After eight weeks, the researchers report, the TMD defects had vanished.
The next step in their research, according to reports, is to test the long-term effectiveness of the procedure in the test subjects. After that come clinical trials.
“We hope this will lead to new treatments for humans,” one of the researchers said. “Most medical management approaches for TMJ disc issues currently aren’t curative, but palliative,” meaning they can ease pain but not cure the condition.
A proper diagnosis of TMD is a necessary first step. At Poss Sleep Apnea & TMJ Solutions in Brentwood, we can diagnose the condition and provide courses of treatment. If you or a loved one is suffering with TMD, please call us to schedule an appointment.
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Source: “Breakthrough treatment for crippling jaw disease”
