Ear Blockage/jaw Misalignment, But No Pain! What to Do? Posted: 05-28-06 18:13pm
Hello all. I've had jaw/ear problems
for about a year. Here's the history.
I had been fitted with a mouth gaurd about
a year ago for my night time grinding.
I believe my jaw got used to it being
in... And when I got lazy and didnt' wear
it for a few weeks, my jaw reacted and
forced its way out of of alignment,
causing horrid ear pain.
I went to my dentist and he said I had
tmj. He suggested I go to a tmj
specialist... Unfortunately the guy he
recommended was not on my insurance plan.
The guys on my insurnace that take care of
tmj are called 'oral and maxillofacial
surgeons'. From what I understand, these
dr's take care of tmj by fitting a mouth
guard... Which obviously I already have,
and has been one of the main parts of my
problems.
A trustable person on one of the tmj
forums has suggested to me that I get an
occlusion adjustment... Fixing the bite
to make sure everything is lined up.
This sounds good to me, but if the jaw is
not aligned, what good is fixing the
bite?
When I don't wear my mouth guard, the
right side of my jaw seems off.. I never
have problems with my left side. I have
absolutely no pain. My ear feels very
blocked.. And my jaw feels 'off'... But
again, I have no pain.
I suppose I am asking for opinions.
Should I go to the oral and maxillofacial
surgeons? Should I get an occlusion
adjustment?
Hi michael,
sorry it took so long for me to answer.
My membership account got all messed up
and I couldn't log onto here for a while.
I ended up having to make a new account
(how stupid).
There's no reason not to see the oral
surgeon on your plan, but remember that
surgeons usually want to do surgery.
Surgery is something that should not even
be considered until every type of other
treatment is tried, and even then I would
still hesitate. Tmj oral surgeons can do
more than just surgery for tmj patients,
but seem to still have the goal of
surgery, so please be aware.
Did you ever have the bite splint
adjusted? What kind was it - flat plane
or repositioning? Does it still fit? A
good bite splint usually does need to be
adjusted before settling down and even
then, it might need to be adjusted or
looked at to make sure it fits properly
and the teeth touch properly. Did your
jaw bother you when you were wearing the
bite splint every night?
Regarding occlusion adjustment - if the
dentist is only going to do a little bit
of filing then it should be okay. But if
he wants to do a lot, ***no***. You have
to ask why is your bite off now? Why do
you grind your teeth? If you are
grinding because one tooth has a high
point, then the filing might be good. If
your jaw is off, you need to see if you
can get it into a stable position by
physical therapy, exercises, a better bite
splint that is adjusted frequently at
first, relaxation methods, massage
therapy, posture changes, muscle
relaxants, etc.
These are really the tried and true
methods for “fixing” tmj problems.
Finding a good tmj specialist or a good
physical therapist or good pain management
tends to be the difficult and often
frustrating part of tmj.
Your primary doctor might be able to give
you a referral to the tmj specialist even
though he is not in your group. The
extra cost might be worth coming out of
your pocket if he is really good. My tmj
doctor is a dentist (i don’t have to
stay within a group). When he bills my
insurance company for tmj treatment
(making a new bite splint, injections,
adjusting bite splint, etc.) he has to
bill it differently than when he acts as
my dentist. A couple of times they coded
my visit like a dental appointment and
they were rejected. Resubmitting with
the correct codes fixed the problems.
You might want to check with your
insurance company (if you haven’t
already) since tmj is an unusual disorder
crossing the line between dental and
medical. My current tmj team is my
primary doctor, dentist (tmj specialist),
neurologist (for pain management) and
physical/massage therapist. I probably
do pay more out of my own pocket than if I
had a bad back or knee, but it does work.
It’s really hard to advise you what to
do. My biggest advice is to be careful
and stay on the conservative side of
treatment. Try anything and just about
everything that is reversible. It took
me 25 years before I had my bite adjusted
by filing, but my jaw had also been stable
that last few years and I made sure only a
little bit was done and it was done on a
“good” day. I found these health tmj
forums when I decided I wanted to have
arthrocentesis surgery. After all my
research, I decided to not have any type
of surgery. I was reading too many
horror stories and no positive stories.
I did learn a lot about medications that
were helpful and proper posture positions
and different kinds of massage therapy,
etc. I’m still learning but my tmj has
calmed down finally after all these years
and the above methods were what I did to
get here.
I didn’t mean to type quite so much. I
guess since I have been able to respond to
anyone for a few days, you got all my pent
up words. I hope something helps.
Take care and god bless…
carol
catswolds, formerly catswold
|
mmejido
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Feb 2006 Posts: 4
Posted: 06-06-06 21:26pm
catswolds
wrote:
did you ever have the bite
splint adjusted? What kind was it -
flat plane or repositioning? Does it
still fit? A good bite splint usually
does need to be adjusted before settling
down and even then, it might need to be
adjusted or looked at to make sure it fits
properly and the teeth touch properly.
Did your jaw bother you when you were
wearing the bite splint every
night?
my jaw never seemed to bother me when I
was wearing it every night. If anything,
I just seemed to bite down on it harder
than I would usually grind my teeth. It
does still fit, in fact I do wear it
because sometimes my mouth seems more
comfortable with it in at this point.
catswolds
wrote:
you have to ask why is your
bite off now? Why do you grind your
teeth? If you are grinding because one
tooth has a high point, then the filing
might be good. If your jaw is off, you
need to see if you can get it into a
stable position by physical therapy,
exercises, a better bite splint that is
adjusted frequently at first, relaxation
methods, massage therapy, posture changes,
muscle relaxants,
etc.
i believe I grind my teeth due to
stress/anxiety. I feel my jaw is off.
These are really the tried and true
methods for “fixing” tmj problems.
Finding a good tmj specialist or a good
physical therapist or good pain management
tends to be the difficult and often
frustrating part of tmj.
catswolds
wrote:
your primary doctor might be
able to give you a referral to the tmj
specialist even though he is not in your
group. The extra cost might be worth
coming out of your pocket if he is really
good. My tmj doctor is a dentist (i
don’t have to stay within a group).
When he bills my insurance company for tmj
treatment (making a new bite splint,
injections, adjusting bite splint, etc.)
he has to bill it differently than when he
acts as my dentist. A couple of times
they coded my visit like a dental
appointment and they were rejected.
Resubmitting with the correct codes fixed
the problems. You might want to check
with your insurance company (if you
haven’t already) since tmj is an unusual
disorder crossing the line between dental
and medical. My current tmj team is my
primary doctor, dentist (tmj specialist),
neurologist (for pain management) and
physical/massage therapist. I probably
do pay more out of my own pocket than if I
had a bad back or knee, but it does work.
i remember calling my insurance company
and they said that all insurance in nj is
required to pay for any surgury having to
do with tmj. Other than that, nada. I
can check it again, but i'm pretty sure
that is correct. I'm trying to avoid
surguy at all costs, especially since I
have absolutely no pain, just discomfort
and ear blockage.
catswolds
wrote:
it’s really hard to advise
you what to do. My biggest advice is to
be careful and stay on the conservative
side of
treatment.
that is my first thought as well...
However, i've really done nothing up until
now... And I have a habit of just not
doing anything and letting things get
worse. My ear rings now, and i'm
constantly opening my mouth wide in order
to try to open my ear up... These
homemade remedies I can't assume are going
to help, or are even a good thing to do ;)
i'm also very worried because although I
do grind my teeth, its the nightguard that
started all these problems to begin with!
I'm a little nervous to go back to a
doctor and have more problems happen.
I am pretty sure that my jaw is off
though. I feel it has shifted forward
due to use of the night guard. I feel my
lower set of teeth being more 'forward'
than my upper teeth. I get the
impression that its going to be a
non-surgury treatment that will help and
will cost *alot* of money. I just want
to eliminate as many doctor visits as
possible... And I get the feeling that
going to a maxilfacial surgeon is not
going to be the right way to go.. But
they are the only ones covered by my
insurance! Oy!
Any advice as to a direction I should go
would be very helpful :)
