Snap, Crackle, Pop: Is That Your Cereal or Your TMJ

Oftentimes, I hear a patient say to our clinical team: “I have been told I have TMJ”. Yes, for clarification, you do. We all have two TMJs indeed, which stands for “Temporomandibular”. Now, before I start throwing more complex medical terms at you, our wonderful body has many joints, including the knees, ankles, wrists, and elbows. The joint connecting the lower jaw (which is a movable bone) to the skull ( which is fixed) and allows for complex movements like speaking, chewing, grinding, and, let’s face it, even clenching when we are stressed, is our TMJ.

The TMJ is one of the joints capable of the most complex movements in the body. It can rotate, translate, and move bodily, unlike other joints.