{"id":840,"date":"2016-06-06T19:56:21","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T00:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.delaunedental.com\/blog\/?p=840"},"modified":"2016-06-06T19:56:21","modified_gmt":"2016-06-07T00:56:21","slug":"could-molar-pain-be-tmj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/delaunedental.com\/blog\/could-molar-pain-be-tmj\/","title":{"rendered":"Could molar pain be TMJ?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I have never had a cavity before in my life, but\u00a0I do grind my teeth at night. I was just at the dentist for a regular check-up\u00a0three months ago and he said everything was good. This past week or so, my back teeth have started having\u00a0intermittent pain that goes away after a few seconds. I was telling my\u00a0co-worker about it and she said she had to go see a TMJ specialist for something similar.\u00a0Could it really be TMJ and not just\u00a0a cavity? Should I try and find a\u00a0TMJ specialist or go back to my regular dentist first and have him\u00a0check to see if I have a cavity? &#8212; Darrin<\/p>\n<p>Darrin,<br \/>\nBecause the pain is all over, or generalized in the back of your mouth, it\u2019s probably not a cavity. You\u2019ll need an exam and probably some x-rays to help determine whether you need a <a href=\"https:\/\/delaunedental.com\/new-orleans-tmj-dentist.html\">TMJ specialist<\/a> or not. It\u2019s troubling that your nighttime grinding hasn\u2019t been addressed by your general dentist because that can cause some serious damage. Your teeth will likely wear down and they can become loose, cracked, or broken &#8212; all from the trauma and pressure of grinding. The fix for this is usually pretty easy. Either a TMJ specialist or your regular dentist, can have a night guard custom made for you. If it is the grinding that\u2019s causing it, the night guard should do the trick.<\/p>\n<p>With that said, it\u2019s not possible to give a definitive answer on this without more information. It could be some kind of referred pain, which would cause issues all over. It could also be a periodontal condition, or any number of other things. Rather than starting off with a TMJ specialist, you can probably see your general dentist for this, though if you can find a professional who is skilled at both general dentistry and TMJ issues, that may be the best way to go.<\/p>\n<p>This post is sponsored by <a href=\"https:\/\/delaunedental.com\/\">New Orleans cosmetic dentist<\/a> Dr. Duane Delaune. Read more about why many consider Dr. Delaune to be the <a href=\"https:\/\/delaunedental.com\/best-dentist-in-new-orleans.html\">best dentist in New Orleans<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have never had a cavity before in my life, but\u00a0I do grind my teeth at night. I was just at the dentist for a regular check-up\u00a0three months ago and he said everything was good. This past week or so, my back teeth have started having\u00a0intermittent pain that goes away after a few seconds. I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[574,64,573,65,66,575],"class_list":{"0":"post-840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tmj-specialist","7":"tag-is-it-a-cavity-or-tmj","8":"tag-metairie-tmj-specialist","9":"tag-molar-pain","10":"tag-new-orleans-tmj-dentist","11":"tag-new-orleans-tmj-specialist","12":"tag-teeth-grinding-and-molar-pain","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Could molar pain be TMJ? - Dr. Duane Delaune&#039;s Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/delaunedental.com\/blog\/could-molar-pain-be-tmj\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Could molar pain be TMJ? - Dr. Duane Delaune&#039;s Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have never had a cavity before in my life, but\u00a0I do grind my teeth at night. 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