Metal Mouth Message Board

Anyone on here suffer from TMJD and get braces? I am wondering what the sequence of events was for you?

My symptoms of TMJD began 2 years ago - they coincided with a fractured tooth (probably from grinding) that then had a root canal done on it (killed me) - - but the pain continued. The Root Canal was re-examined several times by a few Endondontists and all agreed it was done perfectly. So most likely the tooth is still tender due to the fracture. I have yet to have it removed and an implant put in - and it is a good thing because I do need braces. So the implant would be the last thing I do.

Anyway - for the past 2 years I saw several TMJD docs, all who had various opinions of the two MRI's I had done (two years apart) and a treatment plan.

All wanted to give me costly repositioning splints to get my jaw back in a comfy position and then would recommend orthodontia.

I will add that the first oral surgeon who gave me an appliance only to protect my teeth. I wore it at night for several months and then my bite drastically shifted. My dentist can't believe how bad my bite now is. We don't know if it is from trauma from TMJD and or a bad splint or what. I did see another TMJD doctor and he gave me an upper appliance to wear all the time for a while and then a lower - but the lower hurt the fractured tooth and I was not ready to have that tooth removed.

Anyway - I took a break from seeing anyone, my life has settled down and my TMJD pain is pretty much gone. So now I will see an ortho about braces to correct my very bad open bite - I only hit on my back wisdom teeth.

Just wondering if anyone has/had TMJD and if braces brought symptoms back. I've already endured a lot of TMJD pain so it can't get much worse, and if it means the result is a HEALTHY normal occlusion - then I will deal with it.

Thks!
Beth

Hi Beth

I got braces because of my TMJ problems. I've had problems for many years. I had to wear a splint (retainer) for 4 mnths until my jaw could open enough for the ortho to work in my mouth. I've been in braces for about 15 mnths now and my jaw is much better. Not perfect, but much better.

Hi and thanks! Do you know why or how your TMJ probs began?
Mine is a real mystery.

Well I guess no one knows for sure what brings it on - some say it could be genetic, atleast in my case. By genetic I mean structurally born that way and it got worse over the years and then the grinding began due to discomfort and unstable bite which made the joints inflammed etc.

I had an upper appliance I wore for about 3 months and then he wanted me to wear a lower one that cost me $800! But that one hurt this tooth I mention - I got so discouraged I just quit the whole thing. Thank goodness I did not have the tooth pulled and an implant put in.

Now my jaw is feeling better because so much has changed in my life. I had gone through a very brief marriage to an alcoholic (I didn't know he was an alcoholic when we married and I was with him 3 years before we married!) Once we married he was a monster - I left after 7 months. He would not give me a divorce, was mentally and emotionally abusive and I had a restraining order against him which he violated. We had to go to court after we were divorced because he was charged with four counts of violating the restraining order, but his shrewd criminal attorney got him off! I faced him in court all for nothing - and I could tell he was still drinking. He also had a conditon called bleeding esophageal varices that can kill you - you bleed to death. He had one episode while we were married and I witnessed it all - it was horrible.

Anyway little by little I have moved on with my life and sadly he passed away several months ago due to the alcoholism and bleeding to death. Horrible story huh? Thankfully I got out when I did - but it really caused me a lot of stress and I think a lot of my TMJ issues were aggrivated by all of that.

At this point I am feeling much better, can open my mouth wider, have a cleaning without being in pain for hours after etc. I use to get out of work and get in a bath tub and just cry from the pain in my head and jaws.

My dentist says I MUST get braces though to correct my horrible bite - so I guess I have to face that reality. I get $1800 from insurance towards the expense but I think in some situations it is a shame they will not pay more.

What all did you have to have corrected? What kind of braces did you get and how long will you be in treatment? I know it is going to be expensive - I am guessing about $6-$7,000 for my area of the country.

I had a problem develop with TMJ that would not allow me to open my mouth. After around six months of treatment with a splint to allow the muscles to settle down, I had braces fitted top and bottom. After three years my bit was great and I was fitted with a retainer that also was a splint. My teeth shifted (even though I was wearing my retainers) and the orthodontist put them back on for another two years. I got retainers again-the top one is also a splint. I have tender jaw joints from time to time but it is much better that it was.

Good luck in your treatment. It's a really good thing to remind the assistants when they work on you that you have TMJ so that they can minimize the trama to your jaws.

I'm a grinder and also have TMJ. While I didn't have the locking jaws, I did have joint pain and severe pain behind my left ear. I wore splints on both arches for about two years prior to braces. My dentist at the time wanted to bond all my visible teeth and do a bite allignment. It didn't feel right. I had a recommendation from a dental hygienist to do braces over the bonding/alignement.

I can't say the first few months with braces were easy. I had a month where my TMJ was not good but not severe. I will have surgery in my future. With elastics moving my lower jaw backwards, my TMJ issues are very manageable. I do not take and type of pain medicine (I used to go through a 48 count bottle of Advil a month) and control what little pain I have with a heat pad about once a week.

For me, braces have really helped my TMJ. Understand if you do choose this route, you will have times where your TMJ will be worse due to changes in your bite. You also should have positive results when you're done. Before you start, explain your issues with TMJ to your potential ortho. If they are either uncomfortable or GUARANTEE no TMJ issues, look further. Mine told me "Base upon what other patients have told me, I should be able to reduce your pain from an 8 or 9 to a 3 or 4." She gave me realistic expectations that I think she might exceed.


Good Luck!

Mike

Thanks very much.

For me, I lived with the TMJ pain for 2 years - nothing can be worse then that. And like everyone told me - you don't just have TMJ, you have a very serious malocclusion issue. So braces, I feel, can only help me. Because the way I have to chew is a HUGE pain in the next, not easy, makes eating at times very unenjoyable etc. So if I go thru boughts of pain in my TMJ - I am fine with that. No one has ever told me it will not go away forever - I have pretty much been told it will be with me forever on and on- but I think I have adjusted to it, its a chronic thing, and there are far worse things/ailments people deal with.

You will have to have surgery some day? On your jaws? That is one thing I know I won't have - anyone I met with pretty much said stay away from surgery, but each case is different.

Thanks for the response!

I also got braces due to TMJ issues. Went through about 10 years of "temporary" treatments but nothing ever fixed it. Took a break for a few years and just lived with the pain, but then looked into braces for cosmetics, and the orthodontist wouldn't go near braces without dealing with the joint issues first. Another 2.5 years in splints and I was finally ready for braces, which are necessary to help keep everything in line. 4 extractions and almost 2 years in braces later, and it's totally worth it. I've been in elastics right from the start, and they are what keep the joint in it's socket - if I don't wear them, the clicking and pain are back almost immediately. But it's a much smaller pain than previous years.

Looking back, I don't know what any other treatment could have done better what the braces & splint have done. In hindsight, I should have gone straight to an orthodontist when I first had problems.

beth1966

My ortho believes that surgery is necessary to help my TMJ. My lower jaw is shorter than my top. If my teeth were in correct alignment without surgery, they would be so far back in my mouth they would be invisible. Another option would make them visible but I'd over extend the joint trying to make them "fit" right.

I anticipate the surgery to be easy, the recovery a bummer (another word comes to mind but this is a family site) and the result worth it.

Mike

Wow - well I wish all of you that need to have surgery the very best wishes - I am sure you will have very successful outcomes and will be so glad you were able to correct your problem and be pain free.

I hope you keep the board posted on your progress, and thanks for sharing your experiences with me!

All the best - Beth

I too had TMJ problems before getting braces. I hoped the lengthy orthodonic treatment would correct my issue without having to get surgery later on. Now with very little time left, I feel as if I still have a problem. My right side seems to be "lumpy" and sticks out more when my teeth are all alined and closed. Also, it does still click. It did completely rid the left side of any clicking and discomfort though. So i have a half and half mouth now. All the best to the rest of you guys!!!!

Hey I also have TMJ do to my family dog biting me in the jaw when I was 4 yrs old. Went undiagnose for years until 2 months ago when I went to see and ortho about my open bite and spacing and he was like hey you have TMJ and it seams to be pretty bad. and the only thing I said is that want all the pain is! So with that said he told me he would make me a bite plate to help with the pain and the brace would help with getting my teeth wear they need to be. I've had ONE huge problem for right now I've had my braces on for month with NO bite plate and my jaw been hurting pretty bad since this pass saturday morning. I've tryed every thing that the TMJ booklet said to do that they gave me but to no avail it hasn't help. and my next adjustment isn't until 2/6/08. And I don't want to sound like a pain to my office even though I never called for anything. can anyone help with a way I can approached this problem? TY

For a while the bite plate, mouthguard and splints helped me - - I've tried a variety of types. But then the relief subsided, so I can't really help you. Right now I wear nothing - and my regular dentist told me while I am in braces I won't be able to wear a guard, unless there is some special kind like it sounds like there is. That being said, I doubt I will spend more money on another guard while in braces, I'm just so tired of paying so many people money! LOL!

I see no difference when I wear one or not - because right now i am pain free. I do worry that if I grind at night, I might hard or break another tooth - but my dentist said my teeth look good and there is very little evidence of them being ground down - probably because they don't meet!

I will add that a doctor that REALLY REALLY helped me during my TMJD pain was an excellent chiropractor. I firmly believe that being adjusted helps with all the neck pain. She also did some manual muscle massage inside my mouth that helped tremendously.

lilfoot1112

Call your ortho and explain about the TMJ and that you're concerned you're starting to grind. Mention he said he'd make you a bite plate at an earlier appointment. If he's like mine, they'll work you in and make it. I've had four or five bite plates as my teeth move. Its amazing how badly I've tore them up from my grinding.

If you're TMJ is a pain, you owe it to yourself to take care of it.

Also, try to get a removable one that you can remove for eating and cleaning.

Mike

Mike

I have a clicking jaw but no pain. My ortho was very particular that I understood that braces would not improve nor affect my jaw joints. I will be braced in mid Feb 08.

The TMJ specialist I saw said that I have small condyles and my posturing my lower jaw forward to mask my smaller jaw/overbite probably caused the damage which resulted in the clicking and occasional lockjaw.

So I went to see this ortho today for a consult. My dentist knew of him, he graduated a few years after my dentist and my dentist called ahead and spoke to him about me.

I got there and he said 'why is it you are here to see me?' I said "why am I here to see you or why am I hear to see an orthodontist?' I thought maybe he wanted to know how I heard about him or who referred me. He said what is it you want me to do for you?

I said I have a bad bite and I want it fixed. So he said but you also have a history of TMJ right? And I said yes, but right now it is okay - and it is unclear if my tmj is causing me discomfort or if it is the bad bite etc.

Bottom line is he won't treat ANYONE who has had TMJ or has active TMJ. He said he will never know if the pain I have is a tooth, or my jaw etc.
I tried to leave as soon as he said this - I was on my lunch hour and I get paid for lunch if I work through which I do every day! I took the time to drive to his office and really didn't want to talk to him if he had no inclination of treating me.

But he kept talking - saying he wish he knew someone who would treat both. I said you don't understand - I don't want my TMJ treated! Been there done that MANY times! I don't want any more splints - I want to straighten my teeth so I can eat properly!

He said you need a 'team' - an ortho and a TMJ doctor in conjunction etc etc. I said no tmj doctor exists - I have been to several. He said well who got you out of pain? I said NO ONE - it worked itself out on its own. I have some aches here and there but that is okay with me, i can tolerate that - worst case scenario is I have some flair ups during treatment.

So he said well I can't treat you and I don't know what to tell you to do. I said I know what I am going to do - either absolutely nothing and just continue to make do as I have been for 2 years or find someone who will fix my bite.

Anyway - he was very nice about it, and I was very nice about it to him. I know it might sound like I wasn't but I really was! He did say he was sorry he wasted my time, that he did know I was a TMJ patient but he wanted to see exactly what I had to say! He was also 20 minutes LATE in seeing me and NO ONE was there ahead of me. So that sort of irritated me - but oh well.

To be continued. I have another appointment with another ortho that my dentist recommended on February 6 - already have a call into my dentist to be SURE this man will treat me!