Our Temporomandibular Joint is the system that helps us chew and speak.

When this system is disrupted, and the teeth and muscles no longer work together smoothly, the whole system becomes dysfunctional.

This can either be due to injury or to bruxism (teeth grinding) and its symptoms – pain and various noises (clicking sounds) on opening the mouth.

Bruxism is clamping and grinding your teeth when you are asleep. This in itself is a result of the over-functioning of the muscles (located around our jaws). The symptoms of bruxism are headaches and severe wearing of the teeth (they will look damaged and worn).

The treatment for this is for a splint to be placed on your teeth during the night. This splint is a removable dental plate made from transparent plastic.

The purpose of the splint is to stabilise grinding, provide relief for the temporomandibular joint, relax the muscles used for chewing and to prevent wear on teeth in cases of “bruxism”.