It’s easy to overlook the physical manifestations of stress or tension, especially because our bodies experience many stressors each day. While you may be able to ignore pain coming from your jaw, tight jaw muscles can lead to additional pain in your head, teeth, neck, and shoulders. If you’re suffering from tight jaw muscles, we’ve outlined a few techniques to help loosen them to find relief.  What Causes Tight Jaw Muscles? The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a ball-and-socket joint like the ones in your shoulders. Just like other parts of the body, your jaw can fall victim to tension ..read more

How to Unlock a Locked Jaw? The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) facilitates movement in the lower jaw with the help of the articular disc. Lockjaw is a symptom of a dysfunctional TMJ, making it difficult to open or close your lower jaw. What is Lockjaw? Lockjaw is a condition in which the lower jaw gets stuck in an open or closed position. Closed lock: Most commonly identified when a person is experiencing difficulty opening their mouth. The mouth is unable to open to the standard 2-inch distance between the upper and lower teeth, typically limited to around one inch. Open lock: People experie ..read more

Botox Injections for TMJ and Other Medical Issues You’re probably familiar with Botox and its cosmetic uses, but most don’t consider its other applications for medical treatment. Medical botox can help to treat a variety of medical problems related to mouth, jaw and head pain. What Exactly is Botox? Botox is derived from the botulinum toxin (BoNT) that’s produced by the Clostridium botulinum bacterium. The botulinum toxin has many medical uses and was originally used to treat strabismus, also known as crossed eyes. Over time, these patients reported fewer headaches in conjunction with their tr ..read more

This is a very common question that we get at Carolina TMJ. Sometimes new patients come in with no jaw pain or limitation in opening before a dental procedure or extraction, begin experiencing pain or limitation after a procedure. While you may think this is because your dentist did something wrong, the vast majority of the time, that’s not the case. Reasons For Jaw Pain Typically, jaw pain after a dental procedure is the result of a chronic or underlying jaw condition. Here are the most common reasons for jaw pain and how we diagnose these conditions: Trismus   This is the involun ..read more

Midtown Magazine featured Dr. Tracy Davidian of Carolina TMJ & Facial Pain Center in their 2021 Meet The Doctors series. This annual series highlights some of the most exceptional healthcare providers in the Triangle.  Averaging over 140,000 readers for each issue and nearly one million readers annually, Midtown Magazine is a respected voice in the Raleigh area. Dr. Davidian is honored to be included in 2021 Meet The Doctors.  You can pick up the September/October 2021 issue with Dr. Davidian’s feature at over 500 local businesses, at Midtown and Cary Living events, or with a su ..read more

My Ear Hurts! What Does This Mean? “My ear hurts but I have gone to the doctor several times begging for an antibiotic and he keeps telling me that my ear looks fine!” This is more common than you may think.  Many of my patients have complained about this.  They present with severe ear pain and pressure, some eye pain or pressure, pain around the temple area, and sometimes sensitive upper teeth.  How could this not be an infection of some sort….right?  Well the truth is, you may be suffering from temporal tendonitis. What is Temporal Tendonitis? Temporal tendonitis is a cra ..read more

One of the first questions patients ask me when they are at my office for their New Patient or Consult appointment is: “How can a Dental Appliance help my Headaches/Migraines go Away?”  The simplest way to explain this is by having them imagine a Bucket.  We each have our own Buckets that are filled with our daily intakes.  For example, if you drink coffee every morning….that cup will go into your daily bucket.  If  you drink a glass of wine every night….it to will go into your bucket.  Other things that get poured into our individual daily buckets are: stress, la ..read more

What Causes Teeth to Yellow? There are many types of teeth stains; some are caused by a person’s genetics, environmental or pharmacological in nature. The most common type is surface stains on the enamel or beneath the enamel. Surface stains are caused by foods, beverages and lifestyle behaviors, like smoking. Teeth whitening can help reverse some of the damage, however results vary by person. Over time, surface stains can penetrate the teeth’s enamel and change the color of the dentin, which darkens the overall appearance of the tooth due to the translucency of the enamel layer. When ..read more

Dr. Tracy Davidian is bringing revolutionary sleep treatments to the Triangle. Dr. Davidian uses state-of-the-art technology to treat snoring and sleep apnea. Sleep disorders are a bigger problem than most people think. Disorders like sleep apnea disrupt more than just a good night’s sleep and hard day’s work. Over time, it’s a risk factor for heart attack, stroke, diabetes and other serious conditions. Oral Appliance Therapy Oral appliance therapy is an effective treatment option for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). A custom-fit oral sleep appliance can improve your sleep, restor ..read more

More than 15 percent of American adults suffer from chronic facial pain, such as jaw pain, headaches or earaches. To understand the reasons for Facial Pain, you must first understand the different types of Muscular Disorders that can lead to Facial Pain.  There are 6 different categories of Muscular Disorders: Muscle Splinting, Muscle Spasm, Myositis, Fibrous Contracture, Myofascial Pain Dysfunction (MPD), and Fibromyalgia. Muscle Pain that causes Facial Pain is termed as myalgia.  Facial pain resulting from myalgia is usually from stretching, forceful or sustained contraction, is ..read more