A Serious Case of TMJ Disorder

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In my twenties, I had to have all of my teeth crowned because of a teeth grinding habit. They were not placed correctly and now have been ground down themselves. Plus, my bite is on a slant. I’m in a lot of pain and there is clicking going on in my jaw. I was feeling desperate and then went to a dentist who called himself a TMJ specialist. He put me in an orthotic for two years and now my bite is in even worse shape. My lower jaw is too far forward and now he’s ground my crowns flat. I am in terrible pain. Is there a way to resolve this?

Catherine

Dear Catherine,

You have had a slew of bad dentists and I am sorry for that. First, I’m curious if your original dentist knew that you were grinding your teeth, why did he not provide you with a night guard, which would have protected your teeth for only a few hundred dollars instead of doing a full mouth reconstruction with dental crowns which is between $20-40K?

A full-mouth reconstruction is one of the most advanced procedures that dentists can be asked to do and it requires a significant amount of post-doctoral training. Based on what happened to you, it sounds like this dentist did not have the requisite training. Second you go to someone who calls themselves a TMJ Specialist. While going to someone with expertise in TMJ, it is important to know that there is not a recognized specialty in TMJ. Your dentist called himself a specialist, but I find it doubtful that he actually had the advanced training. I can tell this based on the “treatments” he provided for you.

This can be fixed, but this time you are going to need to be very careful about the dentist. You want to look for a dentist who has studied TMJ at places like The Dawson Academy, the Spear Institute, or the Las Vegas Institute of Advanced Dental Studies. That is the type of training you need to get this finally fixed properly.

I am sorry for all you have been through.
This blog is brought to you by Arnold, MD Dentist Dr. Meredith Esposito.