TMJ treatment = chiropractor?

[pgwenthold]

So my wife was diagnosed with TMJ (t mandibular j - the jaw thing) last fall, and went to a dentist to get it treated. He created two orthotics for her, one for daytime and one for nightime use, and then told her to come back once a month for checkups. This whole thing cost about $2500.

Well, I hadn't realized that he is now charging her for an office visit each time she comes in for a checkup. If he actually takes x-rays to check for progress, he charges her extra for that. Then, last month he wanted to get her ANOTHER orthotic, which would have cost another grand.

I said absolutely not. Especially not if he expects us to pay for it.

I remember when I had my braces, the orthodontist said it is going to cost X to straighten your teeth. We paid that, and they provided all the service needed to straighten my teeth, including check-ups, and if they wanted alternate hardware, they did it.

This guy charged us $2500 up front to just get the orthotic, but has no plan for a treatment except to keep bringing my wife every month (he wanted her to come every three weeks, but she refused) to pay for an office visit where he usually does nothing, and then tries to get her to pay a grand for a different mouthpiece. How long will this go on? Oh, a couple of years, probably.

It all reeks of a chiropractor-like practice to me. I will admit that my wife's jaw pain has gone away, and she claims she can feel that it has moved, but I am not at all convinced that the same results couldn't have been obtained with a cheap mouth piece to keep her from grinding her teeth at night.

Anyone else gone through this?

 

[Jeff Wagg]

OK, I have TMJ as did most of the people I worked with. It's caused, generally, but stress. The grinding of teeth at night wears on the jaw joint cartilidge.

Sadly, the damage is permanent, and surgery has been ineffective for most and disastrous for some.

My research into this (I'm a layman) shows that the best thing to do is get some form of mouthguard, soft or hard, front or back teeth, and where it whenever you'd likely to grind your teeth, especially at night.

And that's it. Well, gum chewing should be curtailed as well.

It sounds to me like you're getting fleeced. Again, I'm a layman..I'm just reflecting my opinion.

And..the mouthguard really helped me. My jaw clicks much less, and hasn't locked up in quite a while.

 

[Hellbound]

My brother had problems with this, and his entire (and effective) treatment protocol was:

1. Wear a mouthguard while sleeping to prevent grinding.
2. Sleep on your back. Support the neck and under the knees with a small pillow or rolled up towel/blanket/whatever.
3. Try to avoid pressuring the jaw, such as leaning your chin on your hand for long periods or similar things.

That was it. Within a few weeks, his pain went away. Total cost: the price of an office visit and an inexpensive mouthguard.

I'd suggest going to another dentist and getting a second opinion. Too many peopel don't think of this with dentists, and I'd say there's more unecesary procedures in dental medicine than regular. I had one dentist who wanted to fill 13 caveties...I actually only had 4, the other areas were places where the enamel was a bit softer but were not caveties or rotted. I never had those filled (just the four, and started paying more attention to my dental hygiene) and they're just fine now.

 

[juryjone]

I couldn't agree more with Huntsman and Jeff. So you now have three instances of anecdotal evidence that a regular sports mouthguard is sufficent to ease or eliminate the symptoms. I even found that I could stop using the mouthguard after a few months because I had trained myself not to grind my teeth at night. Now, three years later, I'm thinking I need another stint since I'm sensing a lot more tenseness in my jaw after sleeping.

I also want to second Huntsman on getting a second opinion. I stopped going to a dentist that was cap-happy three years ago and have had no trouble with those teeth that he said would break into a thousand pieces within months.