[inpain]

Is anyone here battling TMJ?I have been suffering from it, for about 10 years and i am at my wits end on what to do so i don't have to deal with the pain 24/7.

[alittlehoshime]

hi there sorry may i know what is TMJ? stands for thanks

with love
carol@hoshime unami

[Perna]

Hey, inpain, have you had a couple of dentists or orthodontists look at your mouth? I had troubles but then found I needed braces when I was 30 years old! The problems (pain and headaches) went away. I was only hitting on 2-3 teeth, had to "corral" my food between them My childhood dentist was an expert but never saw or commented on it and it was only when his replacement, when he was retiring begged me to go see an orthodontist because my bite was off that we discovered the problem.

[inpain]

Thanks Perna ..yes i did go to an ortho...seems like i went to a bunch of dentists also over the years. I am seeing a jaw specialist who made me a bite guard and it does seem to help a little. I asked him about braces but he said that in my case he is afraid it might make everything worse. . If you don't mind me asking: were "just" your teeth off or also your jaw? Meaning my jaw is really leaning to one side now and it is very noticeable when i smile. Which i rarely do now thanks to that problem. Are you still wearing the braces and is there a chance that the problem will come back once they are removed?

[inpain]

Hi Carol,

TMJ basically just means jaw/jaw joint pain.
.....an old friend of my family lives in malaysia (sp?). he showed me pictures a long time ago and i thought it was very pretty

[Perna]

No, I don't think my jaw was every much involved although it would occasionally click/lock for a moment. Reading this:

http://www.entnet.org/healthinfo/topics/tmj.cfm

it says it could be ears too! I had never thought of that. Says not to chew gum either. My dentists say I grind my teeth but I guess now that my bite is good they just wear down my teeth instead of hurting the joint. I "drool" now at night which I didn't before braces. I only needed them on the top, my teeth weren't particularly "crooked" or anything, I mostly had an overbite and a small, crowded top jaw. The braces were 25+ years ago :-) For the first 6 months I had to wear a special plastic appliance, kind of like a bite guard all the time EXCEPT eating and then for a year and a half I had the braces. They pulled the two teeth behind my canines first.

Everything is great now (besides the drooling :-) I did have one dentist make me a bite guard too for the grinding about 15 years ago but I had too many new crowns/dental work so it didn't fit anymore and I didn't bother getting a new one since it was rather expensive and I didn't like it. I've read that grinding teeth is like the brain "twiddling its thumbs" and can be cut down by eating a bagel or something "chewy" like that or an apple -- use up that excess "nervous" energy so your jaw will be tired before bed. I did that awhile but quit before I'd determined if it did any good or not.

[inpain]

thank you for the internet link. You know, for a long time i thought i was crazy because i went back and forth thinking it is my teeth, ears, head... . Afer having 9 root canals, they said ;"oh it is your jaw not your teeth"