How should patients manage TMJ disorders in children, what proportion are affected, and how do treatment strategies differ from adults?

Hello, this is Mr. Hotsia.

I am 56 years old. I’m writing this from my home in Chiang Rai, in northern Thailand. For 30 of those 56 years, my “job” was to be on the road. My life’s work, as you might know from my YouTube channels, was to travel to every single province of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

My “research method” was living. I ate with the locals. I saw the “ground truth.”

And in 30 years, I’ve seen two different worlds of “health.”

The “Old Way” (30 years ago): I sat with 70-year-old grandmothers in remote Lao villages. They were poor (low-income). They were thin. They were strong. They worked (movement) in the fields all day. Their “food” was “real”—rice, fresh fish, mountains of herbs.

Their children were the same. They ran (movement). They chewed “hardware” (real, tough food). Their “system” was clean.

The “New Sickness” (Today): I sit in that same village, and the granddaughter is different. She’s overweight. She’s sedentary. Her “food” is “new” (instant noodles, sugary sodas). Her “sickness” is also “new”: diabetes, high blood pressure.

And her child… is also “sick.” The “child” is not “running.” The “child” is sitting. The “child” is the “New Sickness.”

Now, I live a second life. I’m a systems analyst by training. Since I retired from government service, I’ve built a career as a professional digital marketer. It’s a job that earned me a ClickBank Platinum Award in 2022.

My new “job” is to sit.

My new “job” is to analyze data. I run over 40 websites, and I research the “high intent keywords” of a US audience. I see what they fear.

And the fear I see in the data is explosive:

“my child’s jaw clicks.”

“why is my 10-year-old in pain?”

“TMJ in children.”

“phone causing jaw pain.”

My “ground truth” (the strong Lao grandmother) and my “data” (the fear of the “new sickness”) have collided.

This is a systems failure.

As a systems analyst, I had to understand why.

A “patch” (a pill) is “bailing water.”

The real “sickness” is not the “jaw.” The jaw is the “symptom.”

The real “sickness” is the “System” that breaks the “hardware” while it is growing.

Here is my deep-dive analysis.

😵 The “System Failure” (The “Growing Hardware” vs. The “New Sickness”)

First, my “systems analyst” brain.

We must understand the system failure.

“TMJ” (the jaw) and “Pain” (the scream) are the symptoms.

The failure is different in a child than in me (an adult).

My “Sickness” (The Adult): My “system” (the hardware) is old. It is “worn out.” My “sickness” (my new job of sitting) accelerates the “failure” (the “Hanoi traffic jam” [my travel analogy] stress “clench,” the desk posture “pull”). The “fix” is a “patch.”
The “Child’s Sickness” (The New Sickness): This is different. This is worse. The “hardware” (the jaw) is not “old.” It is “Growing.” It is soft.

The “new sickness” attacks the “hardware” while it is “installing”.

This breaks the “system” before it is even built.

How?

The “Fuel” Failure (The Food):
- My “Ground Truth”: The “old way” (the Lao grandmother) chewed. She ate “hardware” (tough food). This work built the “hardware” (a strong jaw).
- The “New Sickness”: The “new food” (instant noodles, soft processed food) is not “work.”
- My “Analysis”: The “hardware” (the jaw) fails to develop (atrophy). It is weak.
The “Software” Failure (The Stress):
- My “Ground Truth”: The “old way” stress was simple (survival).
- The “New Sickness”: The new “stress” (school pressure, social media, the Hanoi traffic jam of the digital world) is “panic.”
- My “Analysis”: The “panic” causes the “software” to “fail.” It tenses the “hardware” (the clench / bruxism) on a “soft,” “growing” “system”.
The “Hardware” Failure (The Posture):
- My “Ground Truth”: The “old way” moved (farming, walking).
- The “New Sickness”: The “new sickness” sits. It looks down.
- My “Analysis”: This is “Text Neck.” The “bowling ball” (the head) moves forward to look at the phone. This “posture” pulls on the neck, which pulls on the jaw.
- The “Failure”: The “new sickness” is “Text Neck.” It pulls on the “soft, growing hardware” (the jaw) all day.

This is the “systems failure.”

📊 The “Data” (The Proportion of “Failure”)

This is the “data analyst” question. What proportion of “children” are “affected”?

My “data” (my keyword research) shows the fear is 100%.

The clinical “data” (the studies I’ve researched for my health sites) is blurry.

Why?

Because the “data” itself is “new.”

My “ground truth” (30 years ago) proves this “sickness” did not exist.

The “old way” (parents and doctors) ignored it. (“It’s just growing pains”).

But the new “data” (the studies on the “new sickness”) is clear.

The “prevalence” (the rate) is exploding.

The “data” shows that up to 1 in 4 (25%) (or more) of “adolescents” (the “new sickness” generation) report “symptoms” (the “click,” the “pain”).

My “Hotsia” Verdict (The Analysis):

The proportion is high… because the cause (the “new sickness” – phones, stress, soft food) is high.

The “old way” prevented the “failure.” The “new way” is the “failure.”

🩹 The “Patch” (Adults) vs. 🧘‍♀️ The “Fix” (Children) (The “Strategies”)

This is the core of the “systems analysis.”

This is how “treatment strategies” differ.

1. The “Adult” Fix (The “Patch”)

My “Sickness” (The Adult): My “hardware” is “old.” It is broken.
My “Systems Analysis”: It is too late to “fix” the “system.” We must “patch” the “symptom.”
The “Patch”:
- Mouth Guard (The “Hardware Shield”).
- NSAIDs (The “Fire Extinguisher”).
- Surgery (The “Hardware Replacement“).
The “Verdict”: This is “bailing water.”

2. The “Child” Fix (The “Ground Truth” Fix)

The “Sickness”: The “hardware” is not “broken.” It is “Growing.”
My “Systems Analysis”: This is the “Hope.”
You do not “patch” a “growing system.” You fix the “environment” so it grows “clean”.
The difference is Conservative Management.
The “fix” is the “Old Way.”
The “Fix 1” (The “Food”):
- The “Data”: Stop the “new sickness” (the soft food).
- The “Ground Truth”: Eat the “old way.” Chew. Eat real food. (My Kaphrao Sajai is “work”!). Build the “hardware.”
The “Fix 2” (The “Work”):
- The “Data”: Physiotherapy.
- The “Mechanism”: It re-trains the “hardware.”
- The “Fix”: Chin Tucks. Scapular Retraction (shoulders back).
- My “Analysis”: It fixes the “Text Neck” (the root cause).
The “Fix 3” (The “Calm”):
- The “Data”: CBT / Relaxation.
- My “Analysis”: It fixes the “software” (the stress) before it “breaks” the “hardware.”

📊 Table 1: Mr. Hotsia’s “Systems Log” (The “Failure” Compared)

As a systems analyst, I log the data.

The “System” (The “User”)	The “Hardware” (The Jaw)	The “Sickness” (The “Ground Truth”)	My “Hotsia” Verdict (The “Fix”)
*Adult (My New Job)*	“Old” / “Broken”	The “New Sickness” (Stress/Posture)	The “Patch.” (Pills / Guards / Surgery).
Child (The “New Sickness”)	“Growing” / “Soft”	The “New Sickness” (Stress/Posture/Soft Food)	The “System Fix.” (Physio / Lifestyle / Food).

📊 Table 2: The “Outcomes” Analysis (The “Fixes”)

Here is my “field guide” as both a traveler and an analyst. This is how they “compare.”

The “Fix” (The “Tool”)	The “Target” (The “System”)	The “Risk” (The “Data”)	My “Analyst’s” Verdict (The “So What?”)
The “Patch” (Pills/Surgery)	The Symptom (The “Scream”)	High. (It “breaks” the system).	The “Adult” Fix. (The “last resort”).
The “System” (Physio/Lifestyle)	The Root Cause (The “Posture”/”Stress”)	Low. (It “fixes” the system).	The “Child” Fix. (The only “fix”).

🌏 A Traveler’s Final Word: The “System” is the “Ground Truth”

I am 56 years old. I must keep moving (my travels). But my new job (my ClickBank work) forces me to sit.

My body is “ground zero” for this “systems failure.”

My pain (from sitting) and the “patient’s pain” (from TMJ) are the same “sickness”.

My “ground truth” (the strong grandmother) and my “data” (the studies) are the same.

The “data” is undeniable:

The “patch” (pills) loses. It is a temporary “fix” for a symptom.
The “system” (the “program”) wins. It is a lasting “fix” for the cause.

The “new sickness” (a sedentary, high-stress, processed-food life) breaks the “system.”

The “old way” (the movement, the real food, the calm) is the only “fix.”

You must fix the “system,” not just “patch” the “symptom.”

You must “fix the posture.”

🙋‍♂️ My Research FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. Is “TMJ” in kids “dangerous”?

My “systems analyst” answer: Yes. The “hardware” (the jaw) is growing. The “sickness” (the clench, the pull) breaks the “hardware” as it grows. It causes “hardware failure” (asymmetry) for life.

2. Is it just “stress”?

My “systems analyst” answer: No. It is two “systems.” The “software” (the stress) and the “hardware” (the “Text Neck”). My “ground truth” (the phone) is the “enemy.”

3. What about braces? (The other “hardware” fix).

My “systems analyst” answer: This is a “systems failure.” The braces (the “tool”) can be the “accelerant.” It changes the “hardware” (the bite). You must use a “systems analyst” (a good dentist) who understands the whole “system” (the jaw, neck, and stress).

4. How long does the “work” (Physio) take?

My “data” answer: The studies show “data” (improvement) at 6-12 weeks. This is work, not a “pill.” You are re-wiring your “hardware.”

5. Mr. Hotsia, what’s your “fix”?

My “ground truth”? I’m 56. My “systems” (travel and sitting) are both “stress.”

I eat the “old way” (my Kaphrao Sajai – which has herbs).
I move (my travels).
I respect the “data” (the studies)… and the “data” proves the “old way” (the movement) is the “smarter system.”

I’m Mr.Hotsia, sharing 30 years of travel experiences with readers worldwide. This review is based on my personal journey and what I’ve learned along the way. Learn more