Are you suffering from TMD? Apart from receiving TMJ treatment from your Calgary dentist, here are some simple and easy nutritional tips to ease your discomfort and jaw pain.
Temporomandibular Joint and Muscle Disorders, commonly referred to as TMJ or TMD are a group of conditions that cause dysfunction and pain in the jaw joint and muscles that control jaw movement.
While the most common symptom is pain in the jaw joint, other symptoms of TMD include:
- the inability to fully open your mouth
- locked jaw
- clicking or popping sounds in your jaw
- difficulty chewing or discomfort when biting
- facial swelling
- toothaches, headaches, or neck aches
Comprehensive TMJ Treatment in Calgary
At Marlborough Dental Centre, we strive to provide affordable and quality dentistry services for your entire family from Invisalign and dental emergency care to senior dentistry and TMJ treatment. Whatever your needs, we have the expertise and knowledge to protect your oral and overall health.
Top 4 Foods to Avoid If You Suffer From TMD
While you may know that crunchy foods are harder to chew and therefore, may aggravate your TMD condition, did you know that the nutritional content of the foods you eat can also impact your oral health?
Together with TMJ treatment, it’s often recommended that patients suffering from TMD should:
- increase their intake of anti-inflammatory foods including fish, whole grains, dark leafy greens and soy.
- increase foods the contribute to joint health such as foods rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium and selenium.
4 Foods You MUST Avoid if You Suffer From TMD
- High Impact Food. You should avoid foods that make your jaw work hard such as nuts, candy or hard bread. Also try to avoid chewy foods such as steak or bagels.
- Inflammatory Foods. Foods that can fire up joint pain should be avoided completely. This includes all processed food, sugars, refined carbohydrates, alcohol, tobacco, salt, and corn oil.
- Gum. While gum technically isn’t a food, frequent gum chewing can lead to chronic jaw pain so it’s important to give your jaw a break from time to time.
- Aggravating foods. Avoid foods that aggravate your jaw joints and muscles. To do this, pay attention to your body and, if it feels aggravated or it’s hurting, take these foods out of your diet.
Food Allergies and TMD
If you are suffering from TMD, you may want to consider the possibility that you have an allergy which is causing inflammation in your jaw joint. Allergens which may cause such pain include:
- Wheat
- Milk
- Eggs
- Soy
- Peanuts
Tip: If you suspect that your TMD pain could be caused by an allergen or a food sensitivity, you should make a visit to an allergist who can help you get on the path to relief.
Integrate a Soft Diet Into Your TMJ Treatment
For those who are looking for relief from TMD, a ‘soft diet’ may be able to profoundly improve your nutrition, and your quality of life. Typically, a soft diet consists of:
- yogurt
- soft cooked chicken or turkey with gravy
- meatloaf
- tuna
- refried or baked beans
- smooth nut butters
- eggs
- tofu
- hummus
REMEMBER: A soft diet doesn’t have to be a permanent and long-term fixture in your life if you suffer from TMD. The purpose of it is to help you recover from the condition and over time, eating soft foods can help your jaw to relax and heal, freeing you to expand your diet as soon as you feel better.
Call Today
To find out more about our comprehensive and wide range of TMJ treatments, or to receive some more nutritional advice on how to reduce your pain and discomfort, contact our Calgary dentists at 403-248-2066 or fill in our online contact form.
