Bruxism: Completing a Joint, Muscle and Dentition Exam
Bruxism: Completing a Joint, Muscle and Dentition Exam is organized by Dentaltown, L.L.C.
Released: 11/5/2014
Expiration Date: 6/30/2025
Overview:
Patients with bruxism have tooth wear caused by grinding and clenching. Both attrition and abfraction are specific types of tooth wear that result from grinding, clenching or power wiggling. This type of tooth wear can present alone, or as part of other signs and symptoms that fall under the umbrella of Temporomandibular Disorders. Understanding and treating TMD begins with assessing the stability and health of the joints, muscles and teeth. This program will explain the steps in completing a history and thorough clinical exam that leads to the next step, which may include treatment or additional diagnostics.
A joint exam is designed to uncover inflammation in the joint space and get a preliminary sense of the position of the disc in both rotation and translation. This information is gathered by acquiring a complete history with the patient and a clinical joint exam. Muscle signs and symptoms can be more elusive in a history, but by completing a muscle palpation, range of motion measurements and a load test are uncovered. The last step is completion of a functional exam to document the signs and symptoms of occlusal disease and record the patients existing functional occlusion.
Educational Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to achieve the following:
• Describe the steps in a complete joint exam
• Use a joint history and clinical exam to get a preliminary sense of disc position
• Describe the steps in a complete muscle exam
• Identify the signs and symptoms of occlusal disease
• Document a patients functional occlusion