Scared of TMJ Surgery?

TMJ Surgery can be scary, really scary. But, it doesn’t have to be. And that’s not me just blowing smoke because I’m a Surgeon. I really believe it. After operating on hundreds of temporomandibular joints (TMJ’s) and caring for hundreds of patients as they recover I can tell you this is not what it used to be.

In fact, yesterday morning I performed open joint surgery on both sides of the jaw for a wonderful, sweet woman in her 70’s. She was nervous going into the surgery as all are. As she was waking up from anesthesia I asked her how she was feeling and she said, “I feel great, I don’t have any pain!”

Now, I’m not gonna sit here and say there is not pain associated with surgery. There usually is.

Things get even better though. I rarely need to do an open joint procedure anymore. Know what that means? That means no incisions, no massive swelling and incredibly fast recovery. It means 2 stitches total. 2! What is this surgery I’m referring to? It’s TMJ Arthroscopy.

TMJ Arthroscopy is a game-changer in the treatment of the TMJ

TMJ arthroscopy is the minimally invasive surgery of the TMJ. It means placing a tiny camera and tiny instruments in the TMJ to:

1. Get a first hand account of what is going on in the joint
2. Flush out the inflammation
3. Repair the TMJ disk
4. Reposition the TMJ disk so it is protecting the bones

You won’t hear much about TMJ arthroscopy. Why? Because there are about 10 people in the country doing it. Are there so few because it doesn’t work? According to this study, 80% of patients will require no further interventions after TMJ arthroscopy. My data confirm this as well. Arthroscopy is a technically difficult procedure to perform. The TM joint space is about the size of a grape, which means there’s not a lot of room to work. Additionally there are very few training programs in the country who teach this technique.