I'm New.. Here's My Story, And Some Questions. Posted: 02-13-06 20:28pm
Hello everybody i'm michael, and i've been
having my share of problems with tmj. It
began last fall, when I woke up 4 times in
the middle of the night with excrusiating
pain in my ears. I thought I had earaches
each time, but throughout the day the pain
disappeared. I finally went to my dentist
because I had a hunch the problems were
due to my constantly grinding my teeth at
night (my dentist had given me a
mouthpiece that I wore on & off). He
agreed that the ear problems were due to
grinding my teeth, and my teeth were so
grinded down that my jaw was slipping
forward.
Anyways, my dentist suggested I had tmj,
and that I should wear my mouthpiece more.
He suggested a tmj specialist to me,
which I immediately found cost $300 to
visit. I searched the internet for tmj
specialists in my area, and called them
all up. None of them took my health
insurance.. And even scarier, none of
them seemed to take any insurance. I was
dejected.
In the meanwhile, my ear had started to
feel blocked, almost like completely
filled with earwax. I began to panic and
think there was no way to correct it.
Here's where I am today:
after some research, I found that my
health plan covered many 'oral &
maxillofacial surgeons' and that these
people dealt with tmj. My ear has felt
blocked/inflammed for weeks now. Its not
a horrid pain, but definitely something
that needs to go away asap.
Here are my questions for you!
1) are oral & maxillofacial surgeons
the correct doctors to go to for tmj
problems?
2) why were all the tmj 'specialists' I
called not taking any insurance at all?
I'm worried that thesei are a 'better'
class of tmj specialists, and that i'm
missing out because I can't afford them!
Again, almost 5 tmj 'specialists' quoted
initial visit prices of anywhere from $100
to $400 dollars, not including treatment,
follow up visits, etc!
3) has anyone had a similar case as mine,
where their ear feels blocked? If so,
through threatment, has the ear come back
to normal?
Thanks
michael in nj
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digby_uk1
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Feb 2006 Posts: 5 Location: West Yorkshire, UK
Posted: 02-14-06 06:52am
Hi,
i am from the uk and not entirely sure of
how things operate in the us. Here in the
uk it is primarily oral and maxillo facial
surgeons who deal with tmj problems.....My
problems have not been resolved as of yet
however, I also have the "blocked ear"
feeling......And in the past it has gone
away with medication (diazepam, dothepin
etc)
