Hi carebear,
12 years ago, Surgeons were doing a lot of surgeries for TMJD, that many of them don't/won't do now. During the 80's & 90's it seemed they thought going into the joint and "fixing it" surgically would end our problems.
They did find out in time, many of these procedures did not work or last.
A Dentist might could help you with your current problem. If the pain is at/from the surgical site, the surgeon who did the procedure may be who would need to find out if something has happened.
If you had a metal or plastic implant they would have told you and most likely, you could tell.
If you had a replacement of the disc with an autogenous graft (cartilage from your ears or ribs, leg muscle, dermal(skin/fat) you would have had a place on your body where it was taken from or harvested. You would have known, it hurts.
The surgeries I had on my joints were Arthroplasties. In 92 to replaced my shredded disc with ear cartilage.
These failed and shredded also, in about 2 years. They were removed in 97 with no replacements. (These types of replacements don't last)
Before these, I was diagnosed with TMJD after my wisdom teeth were blamed for the pain and surgically extracted in 77.
I had 2 of the Jaw-breaking/restructuring surgeries in 88. These surgeries went terribly wrong and I have damage from them that will never go away.
I had bone grafts in 90 due to infection from the last one in 88.
Then the 2 joint surgeries in the 90's.
In 2000, I had to have a nasal procedure due to nerve damage from these surgeries. My nose closed up and I couldn't breathe.
My wisdom teeth came out OK, but they were not causing the pain.
The bone grafts kept me from losing teeth and stopped the infection.
The nasal surgery worked well. I can breathe through my nose again.
The other surgeries left me in a real nice mess.
My left condyle is a little below the right. I have been numb from my nose down for 16 years. I have so much nerve, bone and muscle damage, they will not even consider doing any more surgeries for me.
( I am very happy about this. I tried to get metal implants or a complete prosthesis last fall and they refused)
I had been in "Pain Management" most of the time for the last 6 years. I was told that was my only option with the mess I had. ( the rest of my life)
In Dec.02, my Dentist designed a splint for my condition. Surgical damage and no disc.
It's the only thing that has ever helped.
I am better now than I have been in 26 years.
This is brief, most of the details of these surgeries are around the board. I hope this helps you understand my post and how careful everyone shoud be about surgery.
I do hope you're not having TM Joint problems again. I would have it checked out.
Cymy Sue
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carebear73 
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