TMJ problems. Please help!?!

First off, you do not need surgery to correct your TMJ problem. Surgery is an option of last resort and that does not mean when all else fails to go have surgery done. An option of last resort when it concerns a TMJ disorders means that only if the pain is so excruciating, cannot be stopped, and the joint is so broken down that there is virtually nothing left of the joint, then have surgery done. Very very few patients fall into that category. Once surgery is performed and it does not work, your TMJ is broken forever.

The first clue that tells me that whoever is treating your TMJ does NOT know how to do it is that you wear your "corrective retainer" only at bedtime. If you had a broken arm, would you take your cast off during the day and put it back on at bedtime? Obviously not because your arm will not heal if you did. The same analogy applies to the TMJ. A properly designed appliance needs to be worn 24/7 to be effective. It also sounds like your dentist or traditional orthodontist does not know what to do after appliance therapy and was hoping the problem would go away after wearing the appliance. To properly treat TMJ, one must know how to get the patient off the splint so that it need not be worn for the rest of the patient's life.

If you developed TMJ due to traditional orthodontic treatment, then most likely you had bicuspids extracted and your front teeth retracted. This will force the mandible too far back and cause anterior displacement of the articular disk (the cause of the clicking and popping). Another possibility is you had a Class II jaw that was not corrected (traditional orthodontist do not know how to correct retruded chins). Proper TMJ treatment consists of 2 phases. Phase 1 involves reversible procedures that will stop the disk from dislocating whenever your teeth are together. This means wearing a splint or orthotic 24/7 to decompress the TMJ. After 4-6 months of no more clicking and popping and no more pain or discomfort, phase 2 can begin. Phase 2 involves permanent changes to the teeth, bite, and lower jaw to maintain the stability established during Phase 1. Functional orthodontic treatment works the best, IMHO. This means that if bicuspids were extracted, all these spaces must be opened up again to allow the mandible to be translated forward and be properly and normally positioned. The gaps will need to be restored with some restorative procedure like bridges, implants, etc.. Depending on the cephalometric analysis, sometimes it may not be necessary to reopen the extraction sites but the mandible will still need to be brought forward to a skeletal Class I relationship regardless. Don't depend on the orthodontist who caused your problem to solve your problem. If he really knew about TMJ your bicuspids would not have been extracted. And DON"T HAVE SURGERY, it is totally unnecessary. When the TMJ clicks and pops that means the disk can go back into joint and is therefore treatable conservatively without surgery.

functional orthodontist; treated TMJ since 1984

Go to your doctor

Cho Chang

What's tmj?

Ginny Weasley