#24 Inflammation of the TMJ is both an EFFECT and a CAUSE

As discussed earlier, Inflammation within the Temporomandibular Joint is the cause of ALL the symptoms of TMD.  This is the primary discovery which distinguishes the Urbanek Device and Protocol form all other types and forms of TMD treatment.  Inflammation is the EFFECT of damage to the TMJ.  The inflammation can be caused by clenching and/or grinding the teeth, acute trauma to the jaw, or functional malocclusion.  In this manner inflammation is the effect of these primary occurrences which create the EFFECT of inflammation.

Simultaneously, once created, inflammation becomes the CAUSE of all the symptoms.  If the joint was damaged, but there was no inflammation, there would be no symptoms.  Inflammation is the CAUSE of the symptoms.

Previously, in earlier articles, I described the mechanisms which stem from the inflammation creating the symptoms.  Regarding these descriptions, another more important point needs to be made.  This point is one of the features overlooked by other doctors and researchers studying TMD.  This overlooked point explains why it took so long for the truth about TMD to be uncovered.

“Inflammation within the TMJ communicates the fact there is damage within the joints to many other parts and systems of the body”.  Just like a child who falls and skins their knees and then screams and cries to anyone around in order to communicate that help is needed, inflammation screams and cries to the rest of the body that it needs help.  Every joint is the body reacts the same way once damaged. The TMJ is no different.  Dental schools teach that the TMJ is different than any joint in the body.  That is not factual and explains why dental investigators have always started from the point of view looking for something unique to explain TMD.  No wonder everyone has been going around in circles for decades.

How does inflammation communicate to other parts and systems in the body that help is needed?  It screams and cries through three systems simultaneously.  The fastest message is placed onto the nervous system, specifically the sympathetic portion of the autonomic nervous system.  That portion of the nervous system is known as the “flight or flight” response.  The message for help placed on this system get the quickest response and causes all the muscles of the jaw, and later the neck and shoulder to tighten up as if they were getting ready to run or fight. That is why headache and neck pain are the two most common symptoms of TMD.

The second method of communication asking for help is through the immune system which brings about a slow but very complex cascade of cellular and biochemical events which are the bodies attempt to bring healing along with scaring to the immediate location.

The third method of communication is the slowest, but most steady.  Inflammation triggers portions of the endocrine system, (hormones) which in turn attempts to fortify, (make stronger), both the nervous system and the immune system.

Inflammation, once understood, explains why decreasing inflammation within the joint using the Urbanek Device and Protocol, predictably diminishes TMJ Symptoms.

“Inflammation of the TMJ is both an EFFECT and a CAUSE”.