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Gainesville
1221 Sherwood Park Dr., NE
Gainesville, GA 30501
770-531-1075 » Email Us

Dr. Simonton prefers a lesser used surgical technique to perform routine TMJ surgery. Although the majority of TMJ surgeons choose to make their incisions in front of the ear when performing TMJ surgery, Dr. Simonton prefers to make his incisions behind the ear and in the ear canal when appropriate.

Advantages of our approach for TMJ surgery

Location

In the case of a stretched or torn ligament, an incision behind the ear and in the ear canal gets the surgeon closer to the TMJ area needing repair than an incision in front of the ear.

Reduced complication rate

One of the risks of TMJ surgery is damage to the nerve controlling the ability to lift the eyebrow or close the eye. The possibility of that complication is reduced by moving the incisions behind the ear and in the ear canal, away from the facial nerve.

Reduced scarring

With the incisions hidden in the ear canal and in the crease behind the ear, TMJ surgery patients will not have their appearance altered by surgical scars.

Procedure for TMJ repair

In the most common TMJ surgery, the surgeon shortens stretched ligaments or repairs torn ligaments and pulls the displaced cartilage disc into its correct position. If the patient's wisdom teeth have not been extracted, they will be removed before or during the TMJ surgery to ensure they will not interfere with the surgical repair at a later date. In some cases, a small metal pin is placed in the condyle (the round end of the mandible bone, which moves in and out of the TM socket) and the cartilage disc is attached to the condyle so it is always on top of the bone, ensuring long term stability of the repair.