Metal Mouth Message Board

Folks:
I need a bit of advice. First I suffer TMJ and I'm a grinder. Those were parts of the reason I'm in braces. So far, all of five weeks with uppers only, so good until a couple of days ago. My TMJ is REALLY ACTING UP! Its not a 10 on the pain scale but a good solid 4. Unlike prior to braces, its hurting all over my head. My normal behind and above the left ear and the right side. I really should not take Advil due to a GI condition.

I have a bite plate that I'm supposed to wear at night due to the grinding but it seems to help with this. Tomorrow I'll call my ortho's office and see if there's a problem with wearing it more than over night.


Please if you have suggestions.....please suggest!

I'm still thrilled with my progress but I want my head to quit feeling like I'm a loser in a fight.

Mike

Relaxing will help. Whatever floats your boat to calm you down before bed. A massage, a book, a glass of cognac, etc. You are more prone to clench during orthodontic treatment, so you gotta do something to relax. You can use an ice pack before bed to reduce inflammation. Or there are offices out there that have an ultrasonic machine. Looks like a gun and uses a certain wavelength aimed directly at the joint to help relax the muscles in the area. It is usually a 3-4 visit thing where you receive 10 minutes of zapping. I have no personal experience but a buddy I know has one and claims he has seen good results in some patients symptoms. As always, YMMV.

Best,
Rory

I'll repeat myself on this one as I've posted it so many times.

LIPS TOGETHER, TEETH APART !

Resist any urges to "check your bite" by bringing your teeth together..they should only come together when you are eating!

I prefer warm compresses on the jaw (heat a wet washcloth in the microwave).

Relax, relax and relax some more during the day. The stress buildup from the day will carry over into grinding at night.

Alot of us with TMJ pain find that symptoms come and go. Mine is worst during the use of any elastics.

Sorry to hear your TMJ is acting up. Mine tends to get sore if I try to open too wide when flossing. It doesn't take much to flare up so I need to be careful.

Like everyone said - try to relax. Hard, I know. You don't grind intentionally. I hope you get some relief soon.

Sorry to go off. So far in my treatment my pain has been so minimal that my only frustrations have been flossing (a new skill learned) under the wires and wanting to move quicker than the ortho thinks I should. Being hit with TMJ pain that has been prolonged threw me for a loop. I've had short flashes of five to ten minutes but nothing approaching constant pain until yesterday.

The last few days have been peaking the stress meter at work. Hopefully the weekend will help me relax a bit.

I feel much better this morning although I had some really weird dreams last night. In one of them I was taking a psychology class and found out on the next to last day that our final grade was a journal I didn't know anything about. Curious as I teach college and have a doctorate and I don't think I'll be taking anymore undergraduate classes.

Mike

Urgh, it's easy to say but I really doubt if anyone can do this??

LIPS TOGETHER, TEETH APART !

I'm having similar problems. I have tried to keep the teeth apart before I go to sleep. But then just when I start to feel the happiness of real relaxation I would wake up and found my teeth knocking each other and it hurt so much! I got a temporary mouth guard (boil type) before I can go see my ortho this Wed....

What has really helped me is the following:

10 minute ice pack on jaw
massage the face
warm moist pack on the jaw for 10 minutes or so
and then ice again

I do this a lot before bed and it really helps. During the day I do it sometimes too, if my jaw is painful.

And I agree, do whatever you can to help you relax before bed! This generally means - no tv right before you go to bed, try taking a hot bath/shower before bed, and doing a lot of deep breathing.

Good luck!

I've had the same battle with TMJ for some time Mike, and that is also why I am in braces now.

The first few months things flared up badly, and in the middle of the night. It didn't matter what I did before bed, and I have very active dreams, so sure enough I'd wake up in the mornings just aching. Then I'd spend the day trying to relax the jaw to let the pain subside and then continued the cycle the following night.

It got so bad I broke a chunk off of a tooth because my bite had shifted and the tooth that connected just got too much pressure I guess. I've also taken a bite out of a molar build-up.

My best solutions was alternating tylenol and ibprofin, as recommended by a pharmacist. The two handle different parts of the pain, so taking them 4-6 hours apart seemed to help get on top of the pain on a dull day. On the really bad days, ice packs seemed to numb things temporarily. I sometimes even dabbed Anbesol in the back corners of my mouth (where the jaw connects) to reduce some of the flaring. Fortunately, I have a massage therapist I know personally and trust - she's been great for putting on rubber gloves and actually reaching in with a finger to put pressure on the three muscle groups on each side inside the jaw. The first few treatments were terribly painful and tears streamed down my face, but I find any time she has done it since, the locked feeling in the jaw passes after a few pokes. She taught me how to do it myself, but I can't inflict that kind of pain on myself when my mouth, jaw and head are pounding.


On a positive note, I'm almost four months into treatment and my TMJ symptoms have reduced dramatically. Looks like my bite is in the right positon for now. I hope soon you will get some similar relief because I know how terrible and debilitating the TMJ pain can be, especially when it's constant.

Hang in there!

Iborg,

Man can I hear you!!! I too know the pain of the TMJ. It's why I'm having SARPE.

The tips of massaging the muscles of your jaw is excellent. I do that regularly when I have pain. (my chiropractor taught me)

In the peak of my TMJ pain this summer I ended up with a prescription for a muscle relaxer to take at bed time. This is what made the most difference for me.

When my TMJ flares I have an earache.

Kim

What is a bite plate? AAnyone have a pic?

When my TMJ flares I have an earache.

Me too.

My joint pain seems to be one-sided mostly ...how about everyone else?

Although my bite is so weird, I've never really had much pain in my TMJ apart from when chewing tough things like meat - until now! I think because I can only chew on one side due to being poked with these wires on my molars, it's making me chew lop sided and the joints on both sides really hurt, especially when I open wide to floss, or when I eat.

My sympathy to those of you who suffer from TMJ pain on a regular basis!

How does the surgery help the TMJ?

For a picture of a bite plate try:
www.toothlab.co.kr


Mike

Chris,
My pain is very one sided. LEFT. I had an enchilada today and had an earache for about an hour.


Iborg,
My chiropractor, dentist and ortho all tell me that my jaw cannot be aligned to stop its malfunctioning without making the whole top jaw wider.
My chiropracter actually said "your Jaw is fubar."
On my x-rays you can see all the classic signs of TMJ wear and stretching of the ligaments that hold the cartilage disc in my joint. It will not be a pretty sight soon. I've actually been putting it off for close to 15 years already.

Kim

Well, mine is the right side only and my ear sometimes gets that stuffed up feeling as well. Sometimes when I chew it feels like its moving around in the socket.