TMJ care | Dr Tatus Tmj Care - Best Dental Clinic / TMJ care in Kochi

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ABOUT US

We, at Dr Tatu’s TMJ Care, ardently believe in the motto-

‘Our patients are our greatest teachers’

This deeply ingrained and institutionalized belief within our team has helped us in acquiring a wealth of knowledge and experience from our patients – and this, in turn, has powered our journey into becoming Kerala's foremost and India's leading TMD clinic.

Though a relatively lesser-known discipline in medical sciences, Temporomandibular Dysfunction (TMD) is amongst the leading causes of ailments related to jaws, teeth, neck, shoulder, head, eyes, and ears. Every individual is unique and develops various TMD / CCMD-related symptoms over a period of time. Unfortunately, due to the limited awareness of TMD, these symptoms often go undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, or get diagnosed very late as a TMD case- resulting in a delayed start of the TMD treatment. Our mission, at Dr. Tatu's TMJ Care, is to increase your awareness and understanding of the various TMD symptoms for an early and accurate diagnosis and to treat and serve you- as per your specific needs. We delve deep into your case history to identify the causes. Once the cause is identified and ascertained, we go through a time-bound program for treating and remediating your damages/issues. The goal of this program is to take you through a surgery-free, medication-free, and pain-free treatment experience.

About Us

Dr. TATU JOY, MDS PhD

Dr. Tatu Joy- is the founder and lead physician of our TMJ center. He is an oral medicine and radiologist by profession, specializing in neuromuscular dentistry (NM) & temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD). With 21 years of rich experience behind him, he has been a passionate advocate and evangelist of TMD treatment in India. His vision and desire for providing quality TMD care in India motivated him to undertake some pioneering ventures in this field -which includes:

Setting up India's first exclusive specialty diagnostic centre in Kochi, Kerala in the year 2000,

Setting up Kerala’s first CBCT imaging centre.

He also started the first exclusive NM dentistry clinic in India ‘The Right Bite Craniofacial Pain care' in 2015 – which is now renamed as ‘Dr Tatu’s TMJ Head and Neck Pain Care’.

Dr Tatu Joy

Understanding Symptoms

UNDERSTANDING SYMPTOMS

The why, the where and the how?

Diagnosis

DIAGNOSIS

We empathize with those who are still seeking an appropriate diagnosis for various ailments, this website is an effort towards empowering the multitude of TMD sufferers for a good chance at attaining relief. The major obstacle in TMD diagnosis is the fact that muscle pain does not surface on any CT scan, MRI scan, or Ultrasonography, so currently it is really in the physician's experienced hand and a host of specific diagnostic equipment that the DIAGNOSIS lies.

The first visit will take about 1-2 hours of consultation, diagnostic testing, and examination. The elicited medical history gives an in-depth analysis of your TMD-related signs and symptoms. TMD examination includes an oral examination, muscle, and joint palpations, assessment of sounds from the joints, and muscle activity. Jaw & cervical range of motion, gait analysis, and posture analysis are done to identify postural compensation patterns and their impact on the jaw/neck alignment to the whole body.

Our team would perform a detailed set of diagnostic tests to determine the exact mandibular position, where the joints and muscles of the lower jaw & cervical posture would be unstrained. The diagnostic testing includes Cone Beam CT scans (CBCT) for the TM joints, airway analysis, & cervical vertebrae architecture evaluation. K7 jaw computer scans for diagnosing the optimal Physiologic Neuromuscular relation of the lower jaw to the upper jaw as well as the neck. Home-based Sleep study for assessment of overall health indices. Biochemical evaluation when needed ranges from Thyroid level, Parathormone, Calcitonin, Calcium, Phosphorus, ANA, RA Factor, Serum Vitamin D levels, Oestrogen, Serotonin.

Once we have analyzed all of the data derived from the tests, we will provide a detailed solution and answer any questions that you may have. We strongly believe that it is our responsibility to thoroughly educate the patient on their condition and its implications. We will present all treatment options applicable to the condition as well as their associated consequences so that any treatment decision that you make will be a well-informed one.

TREATMENT

The treatment of TMJ Dysfunction requires a lot of patience and dedication. Our professional and committed team is well trained in identifying and treating the cause, ensuring that your journey to wellness is smooth. Once the diagnosis is completed our next objective is to get the patient to the established upper and lower jaw relation such that he/she remains asymptotic permanently. Generally, the pain relief in most of our cases is either immediate or may take a month.

Depending on the outcome of our diagnosis our range of treatment protocols may involve (but not limited to)

-Simple medications to get the inherent deficiencies treated which may require successive appointments over a short period of time.

-Simple dental procedures that could correct your bite in a short period. These procedures require just 3-4 appointments spread over 3 months.

-Well-measured appliances that take a treatment time of 6-8 months, where continuous monitoring is necessary (bi-monthly visits). Once the optimum jaw relation is established and the appliance removed, the bite is maintained either orthodontically (braces, 1.5 years), conservatively (restorative, 2-3 weeks), or prosthodontically (crowns, 2-3 weeks).

-Upper jaw expansion and orthodontics for people suffering from Jaw, Airway, and Postural issues, which take up to 2 yrs.

Accessorily, we may take the help of the Physiotherapist (Postural), ENT (Airway blocks), Podiatrist (Feet discrepancy), Orthopaedics (Bone related) Neurologist (Nerve related), Cardiologist (Sleep deficiency leading to cardiac symptoms), and a host of other specialists when deemed necessary for a successful treatment outcome.

TREATMENT FOR ADULTS:

A problem in the bite can be treated in just a day with bite adjustments made by 'T' Scan™ Occlusal evaluation system (Tekscan®, Boston, USA)- using a technique developed by Dr. Robert B. Kerstein, DMD, Boston, USA called DTR (Disclusion time reduction).

When required, we carry out a complete jaw position assessment using, 'K7'Jaw tracking device™, ESG (electrosonograph), EMG (electromyography), (Myotronics®, Seattle, USA) and the workhorses that get you to those bite positions being the J5™ ULF TENS machine and the BNS 40™ of (Myotronics®, Seattle, USA), which enable us to decide whether you need just bite correction or appliances which modify your jaw position in three dimensions.

TREATMENT FOR CHILDREN:

When children are affected, despair not, as they are in their growing ages and a little help from our airway-centered treatment protocol with myofunctional appliances and ENT supported protocols can save the children from severely debilitating conditions which they may grow into, in the future.

Treatment

Prevention

PREVENTION

As the adage goes- 'prevention is always better than cure'. Below are a few tips and guidelines that could prevent conditions leading to a TMD?.

Get your child to the airway-centered dentist as early as 2 years or even earlier to check for developing malocclusion, airway obstructions, and muscular dysfunctions. Compensations done throughout the growing ages by the body toward these issues are a major cause for a TMD.
Encourage your kids to consume hard and food in its most natural consumable form as much as possible, this will help in developing a good musculoskeletal system.
Avoid single side chewing as it may lead to TMJD-related bite issues. If you feel that your bite is uncomfortable and if you think you chew only on one side, consult your neuromuscular dentist or an occlusion specialist at the earliest to prevent TMJD.
Look out for habits like mouth breathing, thumb sucking in kids since they can negatively change facial growth and cause sleep and airway problems in a child.
Try to maintain a good posture to prevent posture-related strains and discomfort because they can lead to TMJD.
The use of mobile phones and digital pads is a 'strict no' for kids below 15 years of age.
Clicks and popping sounds in the jaw joint should not be neglected since they can lead to major TMJ problems in the future.
Facial pain and discomfort while chewing is not normal and can be cured easily when checked at the earliest.
Snoring is often misunderstood and not taken seriously. It can lead to serious conditions like OSA, consult your NM dentist or a sleep physician immediately.
Yoga, exercises, and postural workouts can help maintain a robust posture and prevent the chance of cervical and TMJ disorders in the future.
Ensure you get at least half an hour of direct sunlight between (11 am -3 pm) to ensure adequate Vitamin D levels.
Extraction orthodontics unless essential should be avoided as it may lead to TMJD and sleep breathing disorders.
Avoid extracting teeth unless essential, if extracted please replace the tooth immediately, most of our patients fall into this category.
Practice muscle relaxation techniques.

WHY US

Since our inception in 2015, we have successfully treated over 900 + patients and counting, helped improve their quality of life. In this process, we have acquired a collective experience of 125 person-years- making us one of the most experienced and dependable TMD centers in India.

We are very well connected with the international TMD community and have been closely following the latest global advancements and innovations in TMD care. By combining our experience and knowledge with the information received from numerous exchange programs with the international TMD community - we have, over the years, invested and developed a world-class, state-of-the-art TMD treatment infrastructure, processes, and procedures- which is well aligned with the global best-practices for TMD care.

Our Team has contributed immensely to the TMD community, through numerous Scientific Presentations & Publications. Our pursuit of excellence has been recognised in numerous forums, medical groups and the number of awards and accolades received is a testimony to the same.