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Hi - I have been on this board for a few years but haven't posted in quite some time. If you search under my profile name - you will find a lot of my posts.

I'm just here to offer others some hope.

I have no answers as to how I have improved because every TMJD situation is different and i think there are different degrees, causes etc.

For me - my TMJD pain began after a traumatic life event. I never had any problems previous to that. At the same time I believe my bite began to shift as a result of my own skeletal makeup. In other words TMJD did not shift my bite - it was going down the tubes anyway. I have formed this opinion based on many I have consulted with AND because my TMJD pain has subsided somewhat.

I no longer have daily episodes of pain, headache and feeling like I am losing my mind. However my bite is bad and I can't eat properly with it. It is pretty much totally open when I bite down. After seeing my dentist (who I had not seen in 2 years when i was living in another area so switched dentists) who has been my dentist for about 15 years, he could not get over just how bad my bite was.

The theory with me is that I have no joint damage and a normally functioning TMJ,however my bad bite has caused my TMJ muscles to kick in with a lot of pain. Over the last 6 months my pain has subsided quite a bit because stress WAS aggrivating the condition. That said the pain will continue to return if my bite remains this bad. AND a bad bite is also not a good thing for the general health and maintenance of your teeth and mouth.

I spent a great deal of money on repositioning splints trying to get my jaw back in place but that never would have helped my bite and orthodontia was always in my future. The dentist I WAS seeing, was trying to get my jaw in a comfortable place so that I could then get braces and throughtout that time I was spending a great deal of money on the splints because it was not covered in insurance. When I got my lower splint it was very uncomfortable due to a fractured tooth I had root canaled but the pain never went away. The dentist said I needed to have it retreated but no endodontist or oral surgeon, agreed and they all felt it should be removed.

I tookd a break from splint therapy and my pain went away. Whether that is because my life settled down somewhat which helped the pain go away will never be known.

I am now being treated by my orthodontist, I have my dentist fully supporting this and an oral surgeon who just extracted my sore tooth which has bothered me for two years. In one month I will get my braces.

Some say but if your jaw shifted your bite it might go back - but it is believed that once my teeth are properly aligned and kept that way my jaw will not move them. And even if some shifting began - I will be watched carefully over the years and if necessary more treatment will take place. And i am promised that my bite will never return to how bad it is now. I also know that at times my orthodontia might aggrivate my TMJ but I am okay with that as no pain could be as bad as what I have been through in the past.

It took me 2 years to find a team of folks that I am confident are helping me - ironically the oral surgeon is the same man who was the FIRST oral surgeon I saw about my TMJ. I was in so much pain back then and got so frustrated that I kept looking for others - but it all worked out for the best.

I wish you all the best and will keep you posted on my progress!