Jawad Abbas explains why taking a ‘short diagnostic pause’ has transformed the outcomes of TMJ patients.
I’ll hold my hands up first – because I’ve done it too.
A patient walks in with heavy wear facets, masseter tenderness and that tell-tale ‘click’ on opening. The quick mental equation goes something like this: wear + TMJ pain = make a nightguard.
It feels sensible, protective, efficient… and, let’s be honest, most patients expect it.
But the deeper I’ve gone into my restorative diploma – especially through the occlusion and TMD modules – the more I’ve realised how often we reach for the nightguard as a reflex rather than a reasoned intervention.
Let’s face it: our patients have hectic, stressful lives, and so do we. Everyone’s grinding through something these days, some of us literally.
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