Occlusion
A bite adjustment for jaw pain that has a real cause
Equilibration corrects a bite that doesn't meet evenly, one contributor to TMJ pain and clenching. Copperstone Dental in Meridian will tell you honestly when a night guard or BOTOX is the better fit instead.
Chapter 01
A bite that does not meet evenly
TMJ pain, jaw popping, and a bite that feels off often trace back to malocclusion, the teeth not meeting the way they're supposed to when the jaw closes. When that happens, the jaw muscles compensate to find a comfortable resting position, and doing that day after day is what turns into the soreness, headaches and clicking people associate with TMJ disorders.
Bruxism, the grinding or clenching a lot of people do without realizing it, makes the same muscle imbalance worse. A bite that's already uneven gives the grinding somewhere specific to concentrate its force, usually on whichever teeth are making first contact.
A patient's bite being checked during a TMJ and occlusal adjustment appointment at Copperstone Dental
Occlusal adjustment, measured not guessed
Equilibration is the actual procedure: Dr. Tuft or Dr. Brittain adjusts the contact points on specific teeth so the bite closes evenly across the whole arch instead of concentrating force on a few high spots. It's done in small, measured amounts, checking the bite between each adjustment rather than guessing at how much a tooth needs reshaped.
It's a fit correction, not a cure-all for every jaw symptom. Equilibration helps when the underlying issue really is an uneven bite. It won't do much for pain that's coming from muscle tension or nighttime grinding on its own, which is a different problem with a different answer.
Chapter 03
Where night guards and BOTOX fit instead
For clenching and grinding themselves, a custom night guard is usually the first and most direct answer, fabricated in-house at Copperstone and covered on /services/custom-night-guards. It doesn't change the bite; it protects the teeth from the force of the grinding while it's happening.
Copperstone also offers BOTOX therapeutically, not just cosmetically, on /services/botox, administered by Dr. Tuft. For patients whose jaw pain is driven more by overworked muscle than by tooth contact, relaxing that muscle can do more than an occlusal adjustment would. The honest answer is usually one of these two, and equilibration is reserved for the cases where the bite itself is the problem. Ask at a consultation and Copperstone will tell you which one actually fits.
Copperstone Dental: Most major dental insurance billed directly. In-office discount plan for patients without insurance. Call (208) 218-0329.