I stopped wearing the splint. It made my clenching and grinding worse. It was as if it gave me something to clench/grind on instead of help me.

I've seen a few oral surgeons and all want to operate and I politely said thanks but no thanks. I paid my co pay and left at high mach speed!

I've started over with new dentists, oral surgeons and so far, so good but more than one thing is going on.

I have extensive gum disease with bone loss so that's got to be fixed up. It could be causing my head and face pain.

The oral surgeon I saw yesterday told me the only time he's ever operated for TMJ is when he's called to the hospital to see someone with a shattered jaw,etc but never just because the joints are displaced, etc. He was incredibly honest with me.

Just to make sure what I'm dealing with is indeed dental problems I've had a good workup and everything looks wonderful. No signs of sinusitis or ear infections. I saw an ENT for that who has a great reputation. Those guys love to order CT's and operate but he said I'm fine. So that's real good.

I've felt dizzy and weak, off balance, etc. So I saw my internist today. He's an excellent doc and always checks me out real good. My CBC is essentially normal. My white count is a little high at 11,000 but he said that is probably from the gum disease. I'm not anemic and my platelets were fine. My blood pressure was fine.

I've been worked up so none of what I feel is *medical*.

It's *dental*. My ENT and internist said gum disease alone can make one feel awful and run down.

However, I also have Eagle's syndrome but we're not going to do a styloidectomy at this time. The ligament just isn't calcified enough to warrant that type of operation.

They feel like if they can atleast get the gum disease addressed and cleaned up I may feel better so I'm having laser surgery for that in 2 weeks.

I just thought it was a good idea to basically start over and get a few things checked out before I automatically blame my problems on TMJD and bad teeth, bad malocclusion, etc.

I do have to gain 15 pounds though. Doc said it may help me feel better and more energetic, etc. I guess I'm just not eating enough.

My new dds is good, he's kind and knowledgeable. He said he think's I'm grinding and clenching both at night. He doesn't want to jump in and start pricey splints, etc. He'd rather treat the gum disease and take it one step at a time.

My old dds said my bite was so, so bad the only way to fix it would be orthognatic surgery. I do have a bad bite, I admit that. None of my teeth meet anywhere at all and I have alot of missing teeth. Only upper right molars though.

I'm still getting some sharp,lancing pain in my jaw, around my right ear, in my face, head, etc and headache but hopefully one day they'll get me straight.

That's my hope anyways. That is my wish for all of us. That we'll all be pain free.