TMJ and obstructive sleep apnea

Hi all,

I posted on the last thread on this forum and I thought of another connection with regard to TMJ.

I reported that I have sleep apnea and I have tinnitus and possibly also a problem with TMJ. My good friend Dr. John Zimmerman from the Mountain Medical Pulmonary & Sleep Center in Carson City, Nevada, once commented to me on my observation that my son jerked his teeth during his sleep that this could be a sign of sleep apnea. The body tries to open up the obstructed air path and by doing so increases the tension in the jaw. He also told me that obstruction of the air path could be the result of tonsillectomy (removal of the tonsils). My son had had tonsillectomy when he was three or four years old. Dr. Zimmerman said that a young person will outgrow this but that there is the notion that the obstruction could come back later in life. I also had tonsillectomy - most of us do.

Now I wonder: could obstructive sleep apnea also cause TMJ?
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