Pain in your jaw, teeth or muscles can be hard to diagnose and may look like other health problems. It’s important to see your dentist or primary care professional for a diagnosis before starting treatment.Read more:baybreezedentistry.com

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a hinge-like joint that lets your lower jaw move up and down, side to side, and back and forth. It has two parts — a small piece of cartilage (also known as the articular disc) and a set of muscles that control movement of your jaw.

TMD is the name for a group of more than 30 conditions that cause pain and dysfunction in your TMJ and the muscles used for chewing. You have two TMJs, one on each side of your head. You can feel them by placing your fingers in front of your ears and opening your mouth.

TMJ vs. TMD: Understanding the Difference and What It Means for Your Health

The most common symptoms of TMD are clicking or popping sound when you open your mouth, trouble opening your mouth wide or chewing, and jaw pain. It’s often worse at night or when you wake up. It may last a few days or many years. You might also have neck aches or shoulder pain.

Most TMD cases get better with simple, reversible treatments you can do at home. These include changing your posture, avoiding chewing gum or hard foods, and stopping habits that put stress on your TMJ, such as clenching or grinding your teeth. Medications — including NSAIDs and muscle relaxants, or antidepressants in low doses — can help reduce inflammation and relieve pain. Physical therapy can improve movement and help restore function in your jaw joint and muscles.

When a dental emergency occurs, it is important to get effective treatment right away. This is because many dental problems can worsen or lead to other complications if they are left untreated. A dental emergency is any problem that causes severe pain or discomfort and requires immediate attention. It is not always easy to know when a dental problem is an emergency, but there are some common indicators of a dental crisis that you should watch for.

While many people may not consider it to be a dental emergency, a cracked or chipped tooth can actually be quite serious and needs immediate attention. This type of dental injury often occurs due to sports or recreational activities, car accidents, or even work-related injuries. If a cracked or chipped tooth is not treated quickly, it can result in further damage to the tooth and its surrounding structure.

Emergency Dentist: What to Do in a Dental Crisis

Other types of dental emergencies include traumatic injuries to the teeth, such as a displaced or knocked out tooth. These dental injuries are typically sustained from sports or accidents or can occur while playing a game of rough contact sport like football or hockey. In some cases, these dental injuries can also be caused by eating something very hard or biting down on a metal object.

Symptoms of a traumatic injury to the teeth can include pain and discomfort, bleeding from the gums, or the loosening of a tooth. While most emergency dentists can treat these conditions, they are not able to set broken bones or sew lacerations. They can, however, administer pain relievers and antibiotics to help manage the symptoms until a patient can be seen by an ER doctor.

Skin cancer treatment is a key part of your overall cancer care plan. When diagnosed and treated early, most skin cancers can be cured. We offer a variety of surgical and nonsurgical treatments for all types of skin cancers, including basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. We also offer photodynamic therapy, radiation therapy and immunotherapy.

We treat skin cancers by removing the abnormal tissue and checking the removed tissue under a microscope to make sure no cancer cells remain. We use a technique called Mohs surgery, which offers the highest rate of complete removal while sparing healthy tissue, and is especially effective for melanoma and other hard-to-treat skin cancers.

The most common surgery for squamous cell or basal cell carcinoma is wide-local excision. Your doctor numbs the area with a local anesthetic, then cuts out (excises) the tumor along with a margin of healthy tissue around it. For smaller tumors, we may use a technique called electrodessication and curettage to scrape away the tumor and destroy any cells beneath the surface with a tool called a curette, leaving behind only normal skin. We can also destroy some actinic keratoses and small, superficial skin cancers by freezing them with liquid nitrogen (cryosurgery).

Skin Cancer Screening: What to Expect During Your Appointment

Radiation therapy uses high-energy beams to kill cancerous cells that your doctor can’t remove with surgery or other treatments. We also have several chemotherapy and immunotherapy options that can be used in place of or in addition to radiation therapy. These medicines can be taken by mouth or given intravenously, or a specialized topical cream with cancer-fighting medicine is available for some skin cancers.

The Skin Care Centre, a partnership of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the University of British Columbia Department of Dermatology, is dedicated to providing a broad spectrum of aesthetic and dermatologic services. It is a major referral centre within BC and an international leader in basic research, developmental therapeutics and medical education. Source:oasismd.ca

SPECIALIZED CLINICS

The general dermatology clinics at the Skin Care Centre are supplemented by specific foci of clinical subspecialization. These are based on the needs of patients, staff expertise and resources.

THE PHOTODYNAMIC CLINIC treats patients with severe and resistant psoriasis by using state-of-the-art phototherapy equipment. The unit also provides consultation and treatment for other light-based treatments such as vitiligo, laser ablative skin rejuvenation, and laser resurfacing for acne scarring. A referral from a physician is required.

SURGERY CLINICS include a Mohs micrographic surgery program and a full range of cutaneous surgery procedures. In addition, the Lions Laser Skin Centre is an internationally recognized center for laser resurfacing and treatment of vascular lesions, including rosacea.

OasisMD serves patients with suspected or diagnosed melanomas through a collaboration with the BC Cancer Agency. The clinics are linked to laboratory facilities that provide specific typing and host immune response assessment of the patient.

HAIR CLINICS treat many disorders of hair growth, including telogen effluvium, alopecia areata and alopecia universalis. The clinics are also involved in basic and translational research into hair regrowth strategies, including immunotherapy.

Community partnerships also support the clinical programs at the Skin Care Centre. The Wound Healing Clinic is operated in conjunction with home care nurses from health units across the Lower Mainland. The Lions Society for Children with Disabilities provides assistance with wound management in the Psoriasis Daycare and Phototherapy Clinic.

Physiotherapy helps people keep or get back the movements and functions that are important to their daily lives, such as mobility, balance, movement, strength, work, home and leisure activities. It is a client-centred health profession that encourages development and facilitates recovery, allowing people to maintain their independence.

Professional Rehabilitation Support are a vital part of any health system, complementing other health interventions and helping to ensure optimal outcomes. They can reduce the impact of a broad range of health conditions and injuries, and enable people to take up or resume family and community roles.

Personalized Paths to Healing: Tailored Inpatient Recovery Plans in the UK

A person’s underlying health condition and its severity determine the need for rehabilitation, as well as the type of rehabilitation services required. It is important to provide these services at the right time and in the right setting to optimise functioning and support an individual’s recovery and goals (WHO 2015a).

People may need rehabilitation support at any level of a health care system, including in the community or at home, primary health centres, referral hospitals, or specialized rehabilitation facilities. Ideally, rehabilitation should be provided as close to the point of injury or illness as possible. However, this requires a certain degree of clinical reasoning that may be beyond the capacity of primary health workers and community-based rehabilitation providers.

Successful rehabilitation service delivery depends on the availability of health professionals trained in a variety of rehabilitative disciplines, such as physiatrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists. WHO supports countries in developing and strengthening these rehabilitation workforces.