My mom has TMJ and for my entire life (been seeing the same dentist), my dentist has been warning me about TMJ and that it could be hereditary. I had a terrible underbite as a kid, and that was corrected by orthodontics.
Over the past few years, I developed severe TMJ problems. I'm now 27.
If you are not aware of what TMJ is, or better yet, what THE TMJ is, it is the Temporal Mandibular Joint. Basically, your jaw joint. You have two, left and right, obviously, and the joint is usually right in front of your ear canal.
Several years ago I noticed discomfort in my left TMJ. I initially thought it was stress related. Over time, the discomfort turned into a mild grinding sensation of bone on bone. That eventually turned into a clicking sound, which eventually turned into a popping sound, which eventually started locking my jaw up. I didn't have health insurance through most of this time, so I just dealt with it. About 6 months ago I received dental and health insurance again through a new employer. About 4 months ago, the jaw discomfort had reached its pinnacle. I was waking up with my jaw locked, and I would either have to pop it open (you could hear the pop across the room, much louder than a knuckle pop) or I would have to hold a warm rag on the side of my face and massage it open.
Then it started locking throughout the day. I wouldn't talk for a while, and when I went to open my mouth, I could only open it about half an inch before it would stop. I started getting bad headaches, and ringing in my left ear (the side that was damaged)
I finally realized this wasn't going to go away, so i went back to my dentist. He took some xrays and told me I could follow one of two paths. Create a mouth guard that I would wear at night and hope that over a year or two the problem would be corrected, (cost $50), or go see a surgeon about possible procedures to correct it. He warned me that TMJ issues were often uninsured. Why? Health care pointed the finger at Dental and Vice Versa. Basically, health care insurance providers would say it was a dental issue, and Dental insurance providers would say it was a health care issue. Eitherway, it was often uninsured, even with the best available policies, and any TMJ surgery simply had to be paid out of pocket.
Fortunately in the past year, Missouri was one of a few states that declared it a health insurance issue and something that could pose a serious health threat. Can't open mouth = can't eat. Can't eat = die.
I live in Illinois, but I work in Missouri. Fortunately the surgeon my dentist recommended was licensed in Missouri and Illinois, and had an office in Missouri as well as Illinois. What I found out from my health insurance provider (dental told me to fvck off), was that if I had the procedure done in Illinois, I had no coverage. (no laws in illinois). But if I had it done in Missouri, it was covered.
So I start the pre-op sessions with the surgeon. Just from my symptoms he said the ailment was beyond "using a mouth guard" and it was a loose bandaid at best. The surgeon, who is a TMJ specialist, basically told me the TMJ disc (between your skull and the jaw bone) was out of place, slipping into the path of the jaw and blocking the jaws movement. Correcting it is a simple procedure where he simply sticks a needle into my face, pushes the disc back into place, flushes the tract out, and pumps in steroids and antiinflamattories. However, he needed an MRI so he didn't have to do much exploration. Without the MRI, he would need to make an open cut because he would have to explore. With the MRI, he could know exactly where to stick the needle..
So, insurance immediately approved the MRI. Get the MRI results back, and the surgeon says He was right and he can fix me up in a 30 minute operation. Health Insurance declines with reason saying "Its a cosmetic procedure"
Both Surgeon and I, along with the surgeon's office are basically in a "WTF position"
So they promptly appealed, with a nasty letter stating I couldn't even open my mouth and that if they didn't approve the procedure as they said the would and used "cosmetic procedure" as an excuse they were going to promptly file a lawsuit on my behalf.
Surgery was approved.
I went in the following week, went under anesthesia, and woke up no more than 40 minutes later. Jaw was sore, but not much sore than it already was, and while my jaw movement was very tight (structure was incredibly inflamed), I didn't feel any obstruction.
Surgeon came out and told me everything was as he expected. He was able to draw out some loose cartilage shavings (caused from me popping the jaw back into place and chipping off small pieces of the disc), and he easily slid the disc back into place. He said I still had over 90% of the disc left, but I did break off a good amount, considering.....
Anywho... my headaches are gone, and the severe ringing in my ear was since gone away. I thought I was getting tinnitus....... It took two weeks for my jaw to not be so tight, but now everything is back to normal....
PSA. If your jaw starts clicking, get that shit checked out!! It will only get worse and the symptoms will drive you bat shit insane because what is affected is basically the side of your face, the joints in your mouth, and all of your temporal muscles. It all gets irritated. The reason for my surgery was actually classified as "dislocated jaw"
Over the past few years, I developed severe TMJ problems. I'm now 27.
If you are not aware of what TMJ is, or better yet, what THE TMJ is, it is the Temporal Mandibular Joint. Basically, your jaw joint. You have two, left and right, obviously, and the joint is usually right in front of your ear canal.
Several years ago I noticed discomfort in my left TMJ. I initially thought it was stress related. Over time, the discomfort turned into a mild grinding sensation of bone on bone. That eventually turned into a clicking sound, which eventually turned into a popping sound, which eventually started locking my jaw up. I didn't have health insurance through most of this time, so I just dealt with it. About 6 months ago I received dental and health insurance again through a new employer. About 4 months ago, the jaw discomfort had reached its pinnacle. I was waking up with my jaw locked, and I would either have to pop it open (you could hear the pop across the room, much louder than a knuckle pop) or I would have to hold a warm rag on the side of my face and massage it open.
Then it started locking throughout the day. I wouldn't talk for a while, and when I went to open my mouth, I could only open it about half an inch before it would stop. I started getting bad headaches, and ringing in my left ear (the side that was damaged)
I finally realized this wasn't going to go away, so i went back to my dentist. He took some xrays and told me I could follow one of two paths. Create a mouth guard that I would wear at night and hope that over a year or two the problem would be corrected, (cost $50), or go see a surgeon about possible procedures to correct it. He warned me that TMJ issues were often uninsured. Why? Health care pointed the finger at Dental and Vice Versa. Basically, health care insurance providers would say it was a dental issue, and Dental insurance providers would say it was a health care issue. Eitherway, it was often uninsured, even with the best available policies, and any TMJ surgery simply had to be paid out of pocket.
Fortunately in the past year, Missouri was one of a few states that declared it a health insurance issue and something that could pose a serious health threat. Can't open mouth = can't eat. Can't eat = die.
I live in Illinois, but I work in Missouri. Fortunately the surgeon my dentist recommended was licensed in Missouri and Illinois, and had an office in Missouri as well as Illinois. What I found out from my health insurance provider (dental told me to fvck off), was that if I had the procedure done in Illinois, I had no coverage. (no laws in illinois). But if I had it done in Missouri, it was covered.
So I start the pre-op sessions with the surgeon. Just from my symptoms he said the ailment was beyond "using a mouth guard" and it was a loose bandaid at best. The surgeon, who is a TMJ specialist, basically told me the TMJ disc (between your skull and the jaw bone) was out of place, slipping into the path of the jaw and blocking the jaws movement. Correcting it is a simple procedure where he simply sticks a needle into my face, pushes the disc back into place, flushes the tract out, and pumps in steroids and antiinflamattories. However, he needed an MRI so he didn't have to do much exploration. Without the MRI, he would need to make an open cut because he would have to explore. With the MRI, he could know exactly where to stick the needle..
So, insurance immediately approved the MRI. Get the MRI results back, and the surgeon says He was right and he can fix me up in a 30 minute operation. Health Insurance declines with reason saying "Its a cosmetic procedure"
Both Surgeon and I, along with the surgeon's office are basically in a "WTF position"
So they promptly appealed, with a nasty letter stating I couldn't even open my mouth and that if they didn't approve the procedure as they said the would and used "cosmetic procedure" as an excuse they were going to promptly file a lawsuit on my behalf.
Surgery was approved.
I went in the following week, went under anesthesia, and woke up no more than 40 minutes later. Jaw was sore, but not much sore than it already was, and while my jaw movement was very tight (structure was incredibly inflamed), I didn't feel any obstruction.
Surgeon came out and told me everything was as he expected. He was able to draw out some loose cartilage shavings (caused from me popping the jaw back into place and chipping off small pieces of the disc), and he easily slid the disc back into place. He said I still had over 90% of the disc left, but I did break off a good amount, considering.....
Anywho... my headaches are gone, and the severe ringing in my ear was since gone away. I thought I was getting tinnitus....... It took two weeks for my jaw to not be so tight, but now everything is back to normal....
PSA. If your jaw starts clicking, get that shit checked out!! It will only get worse and the symptoms will drive you bat shit insane because what is affected is basically the side of your face, the joints in your mouth, and all of your temporal muscles. It all gets irritated. The reason for my surgery was actually classified as "dislocated jaw"
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