Hi everyone I'm new to the board , I've had tmj for 10 years but recently it has become more painful , have seen two tmj neuromuscular dentist one in harley street london and a local one ! They both want to do splint thearpy on me ,I had more confidence in the harley street dentist , I have limited mouth opening can a splint help me ? I am astonished at how much people suffer with this condition , yet not a lot of research being done to help people , a lot of dentists and doctors I have spoken to believe tmj is stress and just muscular , I think it can be the cause but some people clearly have more going on , disc displacement and joint problems , can a splint really help and is it worth a try ??
If you have a well trained dentist, a proper fitting repositioning splint can help. It sounds like you've done your homework in finding a good neuromuscular dentist already.
I was having some pretty bad pain before I started my Phase I TMJD treatment. My mandibular repositioning splint moved my bite a bit forward and to the right into a "proper" position. It did take some getting used to, but after about 6 months, my jaw was "happy". My pain was gone and I was no longer having the constant muscle spasming.
I did have physical therapy on my neck and jaw with orofacial trigger point releases during my splint therapy time as well. I think that helped me adapt to the splint better. I also had ultrasound therapy on my jaw, neck and shoulder.
I'm about 2 years into splint therapy and I'm into Phase II treatment with upper braces right now. I'll be replacing the splint with lower braces in a couple months if all goes well. Since the splint got my bite into "proper" positioning, the goal of the braces is to keep my bite in that position permenantly.
Thankyou mountain reader ! You sound like you are doing better . Can I ask what symptoms you was having before splints. I will ask about repositioning splints , both dentists where a bit vague as to what the splints are called . There are so many different splints its confusing .
Hi everyone I'm new to the board , I've had tmj for 10 years but recently it has become more painful , have seen two tmj neuromuscular dentist one in harley street london and a local one ! They both want to do splint thearpy on me ,I had more confidence in the harley street dentist , I have limited mouth opening can a splint help me ? I am astonished at how much people suffer with this condition , yet not a lot of research being done to help people , a lot of dentists and doctors I have spoken to believe tmj is stress and just muscular , I think it can be the cause but some people clearly have more going on , disc displacement and joint problems , can a splint really help and is it worth a try ??
Hi Sarahblue,
I hadn't realised there was more than one Neuromuscular dentist in England. Which ones have you seen, if you don't mind me asking?
Hi Sarahblue,
I hadn't realised there was more than one Neuromuscular dentist in England. Which ones have you seen, if you don't mind me asking?
Hi amanda6 yes there are loads in the u.k , I've seen a really good (harley street) dentist , not sure am I allowed to say his name? And a local one , both said different things .
Hi amanda6 yes there are loads in the u.k , I've seen a really good (harley street) dentist , not sure am I allowed to say his name? And a local one , both said different things .
Then maybe the ones your referring aren't all using EMG measuring equipment to determine the correct jaw position and to make Neuromuscular orthotics, which is my understanding of the definition of a Neuromuscular dentist. Maybe they're using different types of splint instead. The only Neuromuscular dentist I have heard of in England is David Cook. The other dentists who treat the TMJ use different types of splints as far as I understand it.
Thankyou mountain reader ! You sound like you are doing better . Can I ask what symptoms you was having before splints. I will ask about repositioning splints , both dentists where a bit vague as to what the splints are called . There are so many different splints its confusing .
Hi sarahblue,
If you follow my old postings on this board you will pretty much see my whole TMJD story. My symptoms started with a stuffy ear that wouldn't pop. (I had it for over a year.) After a few months of that, I developed some pretty bad chronic ear pain as well. My ENT, general practitioner and Audiologist couldn't find anything other than new hearing loss. As my evaluations progressed, I found that my neck pain and some shoulder and back problems were all connected as well. Eventually, I also developed some facial pain as well from those constant muscle spasms. My TMJ dentists diagnosed TMJD, cervicalgia and myofacial pain which were all connected. The hearing loss was from my ear being pushed back towards my ear when the tmj disc slipped forward. Unfortunately the hearing loss appears to be permenant.
If you haven't already found it, there is a good sticky at the top of this board with a list of the range of TMJD symptoms.
My splint is called a mandibular repositioning splint. It is a lower acrylic splint that covered all of my lower teeth. (It has been cut back a bit to expose my molars as treatment progressed.) It has "bumps" on the top of it that coorelate to my upper teeth. In order to bite down, my upper teeth have to align with those bumps. In my case that is a bit forward and to the left for my "proper" bite. After time, my muscles started to loosen and my bite became more comfortable in the new forward position.
It is very important to find an orthodontist trained in treating bites in their proper positioning. I wore an upper acrylic flate plane splint year for bruxism. Turns out that splint probably contributed to my development of TMJD. The hard part in all of this is truly knowing who to trust for your treatment.
Hi sarahblue,
If you follow my old postings on this board you will pretty much see my whole TMJD story. My symptoms started with a stuffy ear that wouldn't pop. (I had it for over a year.) After a few months of that, I developed some pretty bad chronic ear pain as well. My ENT, general practitioner and Audiologist couldn't find anything other than new hearing loss. As my evaluations progressed, I found that my neck pain and some shoulder and back problems were all connected as well. Eventually, I also developed some facial pain as well from those constant muscle spasms. My TMJ dentists diagnosed TMJD, cervicalgia and myofacial pain which were all connected. The hearing loss was from my ear being pushed back towards my ear when the tmj disc slipped forward. Unfortunately the hearing loss appears to be permenant.
If you haven't already found it, there is a good sticky at the top of this board with a list of the range of TMJD symptoms.
My splint is called a mandibular repositioning splint. It is a lower acrylic splint that covered all of my lower teeth. (It has been cut back a bit to expose my molars as treatment progressed.) It has "bumps" on the top of it that coorelate to my upper teeth. In order to bite down, my upper teeth have to align with those bumps. In my case that is a bit forward and to the left for my "proper" bite. After time, my muscles started to loosen and my bite became more comfortable in the new forward position.
It is very important to find an orthodontist trained in treating bites in their proper positioning. I wore an upper acrylic flate plane splint year for bruxism. Turns out that splint probably contributed to my development of TMJD. The hard part in all of this is truly knowing who to trust for your treatment.
Hi sarahblue,
If you follow my old postings on this board you will pretty much see my whole TMJD story. My symptoms started with a stuffy ear that wouldn't pop. (I had it for over a year.) After a few months of that, I developed some pretty bad chronic ear pain as well. My ENT, general practitioner and Audiologist couldn't find anything other than new hearing loss. As my evaluations progressed, I found that my neck pain and some shoulder and back problems were all connected as well. Eventually, I also developed some facial pain as well from those constant muscle spasms. My TMJ dentists diagnosed TMJD, cervicalgia and myofacial pain which were all connected. The hearing loss was from my ear being pushed back towards my ear when the tmj disc slipped forward. Unfortunately the hearing loss appears to be permenant.
If you haven't already found it, there is a good sticky at the top of this board with a list of the range of TMJD symptoms.
My splint is called a mandibular repositioning splint. It is a lower acrylic splint that covered all of my lower teeth. (It has been cut back a bit to expose my molars as treatment progressed.) It has "bumps" on the top of it that coorelate to my upper teeth. In order to bite down, my upper teeth have to align with those bumps. In my case that is a bit forward and to the left for my "proper" bite. After time, my muscles started to loosen and my bite became more comfortable in the new forward position.
It is very important to find an orthodontist trained in treating bites in their proper positioning. I wore an upper acrylic flate plane splint year for bruxism. Turns out that splint probably contributed to my development of TMJD. The hard part in all of this is truly knowing who to trust for your treatment.
hi mountain reader I agree its hard to know who to trust (and where to put your money) im sorry about your hearing loss , it may still come back with time it sounds like your still healing. i dont feel that theres anything wrong with my bite as such .
hi amanda6 yes thats who i saw david cook , he was very good ,
Thanks Sarahblue, I've not see him myself. I've been having treatment with another TMJ dentist which has been with a lower flat plane spint worn 24/7 and orthodontics to reposition my lower jaw further forward. I didn't realise there was anything wrong with my bite until I went to the TMJ dentist, and discovered that my lower jaw was repositioned too far back when I bite, which could have caused my discs to displace due to a lack of room in the joint for them.
Thanks Sarahblue, I've not see him myself. I've been having treatment with another TMJ dentist which has been with a lower flat plane spint worn 24/7 and orthodontics to reposition my lower jaw further forward. I didn't realise there was anything wrong with my bite until I went to the TMJ dentist, and discovered that my lower jaw was repositioned too far back when I bite, which could have caused my discs to displace due to a lack of room in the joint for them.
hi amanda6 are you in the uk? if you are can you tell me who your seeing, hows your treament going
hi amanda6 are you in the uk? if you are can you tell me who your seeing, hows your treament going
Hi Sarahblue,
Yes I am in England. I have been having treatment with Dr Hedger in Surrey. As for how is the treatment going, my jaw opening has increased and is now approx 50mm which in his opinion is normal and so is considered as a successful treatment. In my opinion a limited jaw opening was never my main concern in the first place, as in my opinion my initial jaw opening was approx 40mm. My main initial problems were constant face and neck pain, and jaw clunking on every opening on my right side. The jaw clunking has improved somewhat, although I now have smaller clicking in other places. My pain didn't go completely during treatment, and since I recently had my 24/7 splint removed, my pain is worsening again, which in my opinion is because my bite isn't very well aligned with the orthodontics.
Hi Sarahblue,
Yes I am in England. I have been having treatment with Dr Hedger in Surrey. As for how is the treatment going, my jaw opening has increased and is now approx 50mm which in his opinion is normal and so is considered as a successful treatment. In my opinion a limited jaw opening was never my main concern in the first place, as in my opinion my initial jaw opening was approx 40mm. My main initial problems were constant face and neck pain, and jaw clunking on every opening on my right side. The jaw clunking has improved somewhat, although I now have smaller clicking in other places. My pain didn't go completely during treatment, and since I recently had my 24/7 splint removed, my pain is worsening again, which in my opinion is because my bite isn't very well aligned with the orthodontics.
Hi amanda6 sorry I didnt realise you was from uk, you sound like your on the right path , I hope all goes well for you , andre , patrick grossman , chris parte , and david cook are the ones mentioned a lot by people ! Have you had any ear pain ? Its a hugh commitment regarding money isn't it ! My husband nearly passed out when we asked how much the splint would cost.
Hi amanda6 sorry I didnt realise you was from uk, you sound like your on the right path , I hope all goes well for you , andre , patrick grossman , chris parte , and david cook are the ones mentioned a lot by people ! Have you had any ear pain ? Its a hugh commitment regarding money isn't it ! My husband nearly passed out when we asked how much the splint would cost.
I do have ear pain in my left ear, and it also feel like it's clogged up. That didn't get any better with my splint.
The treatment does cost a lot, but also varies quite a bit depending on who you see. The NM orthotic which a NM dentist like David Cook would use is very expensive. The splint like the one I have had much less, but it's a completely different type of splint, and the cost of mine was included in the overall orthodontic cost. I'm actually in the process of trying to transfer to another dentist called Mark Harris in Devon, to see if further improvements can be made on aligning my bite with orthodontics.
I do have ear pain in my left ear, and it also feel like it's clogged up. That didn't get any better with my splint.
The treatment does cost a lot, but also varies quite a bit depending on who you see. The NM orthotic which a NM dentist like David Cook would use is very expensive. The splint like the one I have had much less, but it's a completely different type of splint, and the cost of mine was included in the overall orthodontic cost. I'm actually in the process of trying to transfer to another dentist called Mark Harris in Devon, to see if further improvements can be made on aligning my bite with orthodontics.
hi amanda I have the ear pain and stuffy feeling aswell , I have read on other sites that its normally the first symptom of tmj and it can take a while to go, i have also become very sensitive to sounds . Can i ask what your splint is called . and i hope you get the transfer to devon
hi amanda I have the ear pain and stuffy feeling aswell , I have read on other sites that its normally the first symptom of tmj and it can take a while to go, i have also become very sensitive to sounds . Can i ask what your splint is called . and i hope you get the transfer to devon
Hi Sarahblue,
I was never told what my splint was called, but it looks rather similar to pictures I have seen of the Gelb splint. It was a flat plane splint, made of hard acrylic which I had on my lower jaw, and it covered over the biting surface of all my molars and premolars, but it didn't cover over the biting surface of my front incisors and canines.
Hi amanda6 yes there are loads in the u.k , I've seen a really good (harley street) dentist , not sure am I allowed to say his name? And a local one , both said different things .
Who was the local one you saw? And what did they say that was different?
Hi guys, just wanted to say that I'm getting my splint this friday hopefully. I'm not sure what the name of it is called. I think I have both an upper and lower one though. I'll let you guys know how it goes....
Who was the local one you saw? And what did they say that was different?
Hi amanda 6 sorry only just saw your message ! I saw karen andrews in hatfield ! I think the splint she was going to do me was just a normal splint , to protect my teeth agaisnt grinding . I am pretty sure I don't grind my teeth though , how are you doing at the moment did you manage to change your dentist to devon . Do you feel like your splint has helped you. I am having a mri done soon , to see what's going on ( have you had one done )
