TMJ Treatment
Most people who visit us have managed their symptoms for a long time. You may rely on daily ibuprofen, notice your jaw clicking at lunch, or be exhausted by morning migraines. Eventually, managing isn’t enough. You want to know why it happens and how to stop it.
Dr. Todd Roby is one of the few dentists in our region with specialized IPSO training. He looks at your jaw joints, muscles, and nerves as a system, seeking the reason your bite is “fighting” itself. This comprehensive approach is the key to finding long-term relief from chronic TMJ and jaw pain.
What to Expect During Your Visit
When you come in, we won’t rush you into a chair and start drilling right away. We want you to see exactly what we see.
- The HD Tour: We use a small, pen-sized camera to take high-definition photos of your teeth and project them onto a screen in front of you. You will be able to see the small notches at the gum line or the flattened edges of your teeth that prove your jaw muscles are working overtime.
- A Stress-Free Environment: We know that dental visits can be stressful, especially when you are in pain. We focus on the small things, like the warm-water rinses our patients always comment on, to make sure you feel at home.
- Testing the Bite: Using digital mapping, we find the “high spots” on your teeth. These are tiny areas that might be less than a millimeter off, but they act like a pebble in your shoe, keeping your jaw from ever truly resting.
Our Two-Phase Plan for Relief
We believe in fixing the source of the pain, not just hiding it. We usually manage your care in two clear steps:
Step 1: Calming the Muscles The first goal is to get you out of pain. We use custom-made orthotics to help your jaw find its natural resting position. We may also use gentle Laser Therapy to reduce inflammation in the joint so you can start feeling relief immediately.
Step 2: A Permanent Solution Once your muscles are relaxed and the pain is gone, we talk about how to keep it that way. For some, this is a simple adjustment to how the teeth meet. For others who have worn their teeth down from years of grinding, we use advanced restorations to rebuild that height and restore a healthy bite.
Care from Your Longmont Neighbors
Dr. Roby is a Longmont native and a local youth coach who has served this community for decades. He’s been named a 5280 Top Dentist for seven years, but he’s most proud of the relief his team provides to neighbors who thought they had to live with pain forever.
Ready to find out why your jaw hurts? [Schedule your TMJ Evaluation]
Frequently Asked Questions About TMJ & Jaw Relief
Why does my jaw click or pop when I eat, and is it dangerous?
That clicking or popping sound is often the first sign that your jaw joint is struggling to stay in its proper tracks. Inside your jaw joint (the TMJ), there is a small, protective disc that acts as a cushion. When your bite is misaligned, that disc can slip out of place. The “pop” you hear is the sound of the joint bone jumping back onto that disc.
While it might not feel dangerous right now, a clicking jaw is a signal that your “occlusion” how your upper and lower teeth fit together is putting stress on your muscles and joints. Over time, this friction can wear down the disc or lead to lockjaw. Our goal is to catch this early and use IPSO-informed diagnostics to guide your jaw back into a smooth, silent range of motion.
Can a dentist really help with my chronic migraines and neck pain?
Many people are surprised to learn that a dentist can help with headaches. The muscles that move your jaw are connected to nerves and muscles throughout your head and neck. If your teeth don’t fit together just right, those muscles never get to relax. They stay tense all day and night, which can lead to severe tension headaches and neck and shoulder pain.
By looking at your mouth through the lens of Neuromuscular Dentistry, Dr. Roby can see if your migraines are actually “muscle fatigue” caused by a bad bite. Once we stabilize the jaw and allow those muscles to find a resting position, many of our patients find their dependence on medication drops significantly.
Will a standard night guard from the store fix my TMJ symptoms?
While a store-bought night guard provides a layer of plastic to protect your teeth, it can sometimes worsen TMJ symptoms. These guards often act like a “flat tire” for your jaw; they don’t address why you are grinding. In some cases, your brain may treat a soft guard like a chew toy, causing your muscles to fire even harder.
Our approach uses custom-milled orthotics designed with CEREC technology. These are precision-engineered to position your jaw in its “physiological rest position,” which signals your nervous system to relax and treats the cause of tension rather than just protecting your teeth.
I’ve had jaw pain for years; is it too late to fix the damage?
It is almost never too late to find relief. Many of our neighbors in the St. Vrain Valley come to us after decades of wear and tear. If your teeth have been significantly shortened or chipped by years of “bite fight,” we move into Phase 2: Permanent Correction.
With advanced restorative techniques and implant dentistry, we can rebuild the height of your teeth. This restores your mouth’s original structure so your jaw has the support it needs to stay comfortable. Whether you need a small adjustment or a full-mouth reconstruction, our team is here to help you live without chronic facial pain.
