It may seem odd that your dentist offers Botox, until you really think about it.  There are many advantages to consider:

• Dentists give dozens of injections every day, so using needles is nothing new
• Dentists entire careers are focused on head and neck anatomy so their understanding of where to put the material is as good as anyone
• Dentists don’t delegate this (you won’t have a staff member administer).  Many other practitioners have their staff place Botox, so you aren’t getting the benefit of the Dr doing the procedure.
• Often the Botox can be done at the end of a cleaning appointment, so convenience is maximized.
• Dentists use “laughing gas” and can use it for those that are scared of the needle.

While the therapeutic use is the main reason for the administration, there often is a side benefit.  Using Botox for TMJ pain has helped many people and an unintended benefit is realized.  Eliminate the pain, look younger.

What more could you want?

1. A night guard.  A plastic occlusal device that simply protects teeth from further damage.  It sometimes can alleviate jaw pain, but most often it does not.
2. Botox.  By disabling some of the muscle activity, a complete clench is not possible.  Pain is reduced if not eliminated.
3. Neuromuscular TMJ therapy.  By using sophistacated equipment, Dr Timmerman can find an optimal position for your jaw and relieve and manage your TMJ problem.

Not everyone is interested in complex therapy.  Some alternatives are just fine (and some, Botox, can even improve your appearance).

What causes this?

Sometimes, it is a side effect to medication or “other” pharmaceuticals, but most often it is an indication of a bad bite.  If a bite is not balanced, the brain is triggered to react.  Muscles can only do one thing, and that is to contract.  Over time there can be significant loss of tooth structure and even headaches from overuse of the muscles.

Using neuromuscular principles, Dr Timmerman can help.  Many dentists offer a “night guard” to give people something ELSE to destroy, other than their teeth).  Dr Timmerman believes that if the CAUSE of the bruxism (the imbalance) is deal with, the bruxism will cease.  Neuromuscular principles allow this to be done predictably.

If you would like to know more, call 206-241-5533 and find out how Dr Timmerman can help!

When we treat the TMJ, we use sophisticated equipment to analyze the muscles and their activity at rest. 

This allows us to determine if what we do can really help.  We try to be very clear with people that if we don’t think we can help, we won’t waste their time.  We really try, but we can’t help everyone.  Sometimes we can only manage the pain and not eliminate it.

Our prefered equipment is myotronics.  This company has been the leader in TENS and related instrumentation and care.  With their systems, we have helped many people return to a normal life and live like they used to.

Call us at 206-241-5533 and see what we can do to help YOU!

-What is the best treatment for TMJ and recovery time?

 There are several methods to treating TMJ disorders (or TMD).  Some methods are simple and help some people, and other methods are more complicated.  The complex methods can help the people that weren’t helped with the more simple techniques.  One method that we use is from a neuromuscular approach, which is a complicated way of saying we use instruments to measure the muscle activity to find a comfortable bite position.  Recovery time can vary anywhere from a few short months up to a year, depending on the initial condition.

Many patients often come to Dr Timmerman’s office because of TMJ, which stands for Temporomandibular Joint.  Everyone has two, one on each side.  It functions as a translating hinge, meaning that unlike a hinge to a door, the hinge for our jaw moves as it rotates. Please visit at our TMJ section for more information on TMJ procedures and treatments.