Word: temporomandibular
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Once dismissed by doctors as "all in the head," TMJ (short for temporomandibular-joint disorder) is now recognized as a genuine problem that plagues an estimated 10 million Americans, most of them women. Its symptoms are so confusing and wide-ranging that dentists, physical therapists, neurologists, psychiatrists, chiropractors, homeopaths, even astrologers are all in the treatment act. Fittingly, there is a notable victim: Actor Burt Reynolds...
...ailment, as its name suggests, is generally traceable to an impairment of one or both of the temporomandibular joints. These olive-size structures, composed of bone and a cushioning cartilage disk, are located at the points where the jaw meets the skull. TMJ may be triggered by infection, arthritis, a blow to the head, shouting at a football game, even chomping on a bagel. A major contributing factor is emotional stress that leads to teeth clenching or grinding. Excruciating pain radiating through the head and neck, earaches and muscle spasms are the most frequent complaints...
...when told by an orthodontist that her only hope was to have reconstructive surgery that would involve breaking her jaw. "He said I wasn't even going to look the same," she recalls in horror. Dentists and patients alike hope such drastic prescriptions will soon disappear. Eventually, they say,temporomandibular-joint disorder should be a jawbreaker in name only...
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