Can chronic head and neck pain be caused by TMJ?

I have daily pain on the right side of my head-in front of my ear, my temple area, my right eye and the right side of my neck. I have bruxism where I grind my teeth at night (my molars are ground down pretty short). In addition, my far back molar on the right side collapsed in height after a root canal. I was wondering can TMJ cause stabbing severe pain in the areas mentioned above similar to migraine symptoms? The pain seems most severe in my temple area.

Yes it is.. I have alot of patients experiencing the same symptoms & I have so far help them to healed their tmj problem..

What you need to do first is to visit a dentist specialized in TMJ or someone who knows how to handle the tmj problem. ask for a splint to be used for the day time & ask for a night guard for the night time. With those two appliance, these can help suppress the pain temporarily. You'll be asked to have x-rays in panoramic & tmj to check the relation of the teeth structures & the tissues surrounding your jaw. (If the problem is due too your impacted molars, it needs to be pulled out by the surgeon immediately but if its with the other reason alot of treatment procedures will take place)

You still need to see him to fix the splint every week or 2 weeks till the time you feel no pain anymore or no symptoms occurs. By that time, you need to go for the next stages of treatment which is either braces, fixed bridges, or raised bite.

By the way,as a reminder when undergoing a tmj treatment you should be avoiding to chew hard foods, no spices foods, no ice colds drinks, no bubble gums for these stuffs will only hasten the pain.. believe me.. & if pain triggers now, try to massage your jaw in the area where the bones connect each other (in the cheeks area) in circular motions slowly..

If there's still infos you want to know, email me dr_anet@yahoo.com.ph

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I too have TMJ, face pain, and I wear a NTI splint at night. I ran into a critical safety issue and I'd like to share it with you at http://www.aglasshalffull.org/... . Report It

Absolutely...over use of the temporalis muscle can cause this. This muscle is responsible for elevating the mandible (as in clenching teeth) and extends from the side of the head (temple area )to the mandible.

Yes, TMJ can cause head pain. Teeth grinding can also cause TMJ. Here's an overview of Temporomandibular disorders: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/gui...

Yes Try talking to your dentist about a night splint, I sleep with a NTI splint every night it has worked miracles with my headache and even my shoulders and neck feel better

YES YES YES!!! I put up with migraines for years (and stiff neck and shoulders). I didn't think how closely tied to my clenching habit all of those symptoms were ( and I'm a dentist and should know better!) I got a guard and the symptoms and migraines began to evaporate. I'm still prone to migraines triggered by other things, but I'll take the 4 a year vs. 4 amonth.
Good resource: www.headacheprevention.com