TMJ after wisdom teeth removal?!
Question: Hi my name is Edward and I recently read one of ure answers to a question on TMJ and wisdom teeth removal. Prior to my wisdom teeth removal I had no symptoms of TMJ exept that I had the ability to lock and unlock my jaw at will, but it never was painful or interferred with my eating.I started to develop TMJ after my wisdom teeth and gradually as my jaw bone grew back the TMJ worsened until the point now where often I wake up in the morning and my jaw is locked and remains that way for most of the day, making it extremely difficult to put food in my mouth and painful clicks occur when i try to chew. Do you have any suggestions on remedying this situation ?
Answers: Hi my name is Edward and I recently read one of ure answers to a question on TMJ and wisdom teeth removal. Prior to my wisdom teeth removal I had no symptoms of TMJ exept that I had the ability to lock and unlock my jaw at will, but it never was painful or interferred with my eating.I started to develop TMJ after my wisdom teeth and gradually as my jaw bone grew back the TMJ worsened until the point now where often I wake up in the morning and my jaw is locked and remains that way for most of the day, making it extremely difficult to put food in my mouth and painful clicks occur when i try to chew. Do you have any suggestions on remedying this situation ?
Oh my goodness Edward, you and me are in the same boat.
so i'll share with you what me dentist tells me to do.
I am suposed to wear a mouth guard appliance 24hrs a day, especially when sleeping.
I'm not suposed to eat any hard, chewy, or sticky foods. such as nuts, chewing gum, taffy,popcorn, carmel, whole fruits like apples and pears. and im suposed to cut all my food into small bite size peices to prevent from opening my mouth too wide. or anything that would envolve a lot of chewing like a tough peice of steak, etc...
also my dentist gave me a list of mouth exerices and stretches to do(these can be found online)
and i take muscle relaxers when needed(prescription Flexeril 10mg)
and i use warm compresses on my jaw as well.
dealing with tmj is a lifestyle change! i love to chew bubble gum, but its bad for me now, but i'll treat myself to a stick of gum maybe once a month.
and i try not to eat hard, chewy , sticky, gooey foods.
I've dealt with this problem since i had my wisdom teeth removed in 2003.