I had a bad case of TMJ, you can check my
old posts and see that I posted on here
starting about a year or so ago regarding
my TMJ case. I happen to be fairly young,
22, and I believe I had the TMJ symptoms
for a few years, which means that I was
likely still growing (my bone structure
was filling out) probably right when the
TMJ originally started.
After going to many doctors, wearing a
splint, trying exercises with my face,
having braces put on just the top teeth
(and then removed shortly after due to
excessive pain) I finally got on the right
path after seeing a few good doctors who
were able to help me truly understand the
problem and I am pretty sure the advice
they gave me applies to everyone who has
tmj, no matter how long you've had it
(unless it was caused by a blow to the
face which wasn't my case) so I give a
summary below of what I learned and what
you need to stress when seeing
professionals about this problem:
- First off, you need to be willing to go
to as many doctors as possible until you
find one who you are comfortable with, I
went to at least 10 different people,
driving as far as 2 hours away to attend
appointments. Most dentists and
orthodontists give free consultations so
avoid the ones that charge initial fees
and you should be fine.
- TMJ is a bite related issue (unless your
case was caused by an incident such as a
car accident or hit to the face), caused
by excess / incorrect pressure on the TMJ
joint when biting down.. so you don't
necessarily need to be grinding your teeth
to develop TMJ pain.
- Whether you had braces as a child or not
is irrelevant as a couple of the good
doctors I saw pointed out: a person's jaw
and bone structure develops as they grow
into adulthood. In my case (I had braces
as a child) my jaw basically grew into
misalignment so even though my teeth
weren't crooked they were still not
meeting correctly and thus putting
pressure on my tmj joint.
- One thing you need to do is look in the
mirror, keep your lips and open bite down
as you normally do when swallowing, check
to see how well your
canine / cuspid teeth
meet when biting down. In my case my
canine tooth one one side did not touch my
bottom teeth at all and the other side it
barely touched. This is very important in
proper occlusion and if your canine teeth
aren't touching your bottom teeth you need
to see an orthodontist or reconstructive
dentist as this is a red flag.
- When going to an orthodontist /
reconstructive dentist emphasize that you
aren't there because of how your teeth
look.. also do some reading beforehand on
proper occlusion and try to talk with him
/ her about it so that the doctor knows
you at least have done some research..
make it clear that you are concerned about
your bite alignment -- not about the
cosmetic look of your teeth.
- Be adamant in asking questions, ask
things like.. do you think my teeth may
have ground down and thats why they aren't
meeting correctly? If you have missing
teeth or severely worn down teeth you
should definitely see a reconstructive
dentist (and may need to also see an
orthodontist)
- A couple of orthodontists that I saw
didn't seem to want anything to do with my
case or just wanted to try another
splint.. you need to try to read the
doctor as much as possible as some don't
seem to want to deal with an occlusion
case, especially in an adult. If they seem
hesitant or unsure of what is wrong in
your case or what treatment option is the
best, get out of there as fast as you can
and never consider going back to that
doctor for anything.
- Every orthodontist should have a 3d
model of a proper occlusion bite, ask to
see this and study it, ask him to go along
with you and point out what exactly about
your bite is off, stress that you want
optimal occlusion as a result of your
treatment.
- I eventually ended up getting full
braces on by an orthodontist in my area, I
explained my symptoms to him and he didn't
seem to hesitate or back down and went
through everything with me about my bite
such as how my bottom teeth aren't wide
enough to support the bite, it makes me
furious that my old doctor was trying to
somehow fix the problem by just treating
the top teeth with braces when I now
clearly understand that the bottom teeth
are more of a problem to my occlusion.
- You should have heard the same thing
from at least a couple, if not more than 2
doctors about your bite problem. This is
when you can be sure of the treatment you
need.. when you keep going for new
evaluations and hear the same thing,
actually this is when I finally became
confident that my problem could be solved
as I heard the same thing from a few
people and decided to go forward with the
doctor with whom I felt most comfortable.
- Lastly, if you are going to need braces
to fix your problem, try to see if you can
set aside a good 3 weeks to not have to
work after you get them. After getting
mine on my mouth structure soon started to
feel better but I was having some bad
headaches, difficulty eating and just
overall pain for a while. You need to
relax as much as you can, minimize talking
(as it tends to tear up your cheeks from
the braces at first) and anything that can
stress you out.. I know it can be
difficult but TMJ is a major problem for
most people that have it and you have to
be willing to make some sacrifices to get
better.
