Hi everybody, Dr. Jodi Kinney here, your chiropractor for TMJ in Belmar, NJ.
Today what I want to do is show you how we assess for TMJ dysfunction or TMD.
So one of the measuring tools we use is called caliper.
This measures by millimeters to show me how there might be measurements that are off for the TMJ.
So today my patient is Chrissy.
She’s going to lie on her back, the three measurements that we are going to take are jaw, right and left lateral deviation and how far you can open the jaw.
So there’s measurements that you should be within the range and less than that is an obvious sign that there’s something wrong with the TMJ.
TMJ Measurements from Your Chiropractor in Belmar, NJ
So what you’re going to do is put your teeth together and when I need you to deviate your jaw, going to the right first. All right.
So for Christy, she’s actually just slightly less than where she should be going to the right, now you’re going to go to the left.
Oh, that looks actually really within normal range. Good. Go ahead and close.
And now I want you to open your jaw as far as you can. And that actually is within normal range as well.
So she was a little deficient on the right side. Typically it’s the contralateral side where there are some issues. So then that would be the side that I’d be focusing on.
But yes, so that is our measuring and part of the exam.
When a patient comes into the office with any TMD or TMJ dysfunction, part of the exam is going to be the specific measurements to give me the tools to know where I have to work and what I have to focus on.
So if you have any TMJ or TMD issues, then this is definitely where you should be at so that we can focus and get the specific results that you need to get better.
Thanks a lot for tuning in.
