I am a 59 year old female. I went through the change around 2003, lost my mother in 2002, and had a lot of stress around this time. In Dec 2004 I had a lot of tooth aches, pain, root canals. I decided to have the bottom back tooth pulled rather then spend money on a root canal and crown. Dentist said I will be sorry. I am.
I was grinding a lot, teeth were cracking. I got my first night guard. I moved out of state in 6/2005. I noticed my guard did not fit correctly. Got a new one, thinking my last dentist did a poor job of making a night guard.
then after my second night guard, noticed after a year it didn't fit right either. I seemed to be biting on my left side and my teeth ached in the morning. I had a crown filed down, and a root canal on the back right tooth as that was the tooth I kept biting on. I had a 3rd guard made that just fit on my two front teeth. Moved back to CA. back in 2004 I used to bite my nails. Now I can't bite on anything.
long story short, it has been determined that my teeth haven't shifted but my jaw has shifted rapidly in 6 years to the point where I only bite on 2 teeth with lots of space between all the rest.
Went to a specialist and he said on a scale from one to 10, I'm an 11!!!. My bite has shifted rapidly and if not corrected I will be able to put my thumb in my mouth without opening my jaw.
dr. Is stumped. exrays show a change in my jaw. I have NO PAIN, but starting to have a tired jaw. I will be getting a new guard and a nuclear MRI soon. Was tested for RA and that was negative.
Anyone have any experience with this? I will be seeing an oral surgeon soon.
Thanks in advance for any comments.
have you been evaluated for condylar resorption? No pain and bite opening often are indicative... I am not sure how they diagnose it, perhaps x-rays or CT scan? But it is a fairly common condition, you can look it up.
P.S. I know you were upset that nobody really gave you any answers... I am sorry for that :-( It was the same way for me when I started positng here about a year ago. The thing is, you have to be very specific or people just don't know what to say. TMJ is such a nightmare that it is hard to say anything w/o knowing the details....
Hello,
I had a ct scan and it didn't show a tumor, only that the movement has stopped and my jaw is stablizing. I am seeing a prosthodontist which I like very much. He made me a splint and has adjusted it twice in 6 weeks.
I was told I have some arthritic changes, or degeneration of the joint. I don't understand how arthritic changes would not be painful as I have NO PAIN but I'm so thankful for that.
I like wearing the splint. I was told I would have to wait about 6-12 months for surgery, then maybe braces. I definatly need new crowns because of I have chewed holes in them from only biting on two teeth.
I asked why if my jaw has stopped moving, does he need to adjust my splint and he said that my muscles are readjusting. I'm not sure I believe that the movement has stopped because its getting harder and harder to eat things like a sandwhich, or pizza or anything I have to bite to break a piece off.
If it would just moving now, I would not have surgery or braces, but deal with it by using a fork and knife to eat these types of foods.
He says its very rare because the amount of movement in such a short time is tremendous. He said it could be caused by trama, but havent' had any,..only that I had the back tooth pulled because I just didn't feel like paying for a root canal and it was cracked too. It all started after that.
Thanks for your response.
no pain is definitely a good sign! However, opening of the bite by itself is not. Did they evaluate the length of your condyles? Sometimes one or both of the TMJ condyles get resorbed/shortened and this causes the jaw to shift and the bite to open. Sometimes it is also accompanied by arthritis, but not always.
I think that you have already had an underlying predisposition to TMJD, and the trauma from pulled tooth probably was just the last drop. I also think the same for myself, too.
I think you have to be sure that your bite has stabilized before you commit to surgery. Because otherwise your bite will continue to open even after the surgery. If I were you, I would have monitored it for at least 6 months (better a year) to be sure that it does not move any further. In any case, good luck with this frustrating issue!
