My TMJ History

When I was four years old, I was doing something - of course - that my mother told me not to. I was sliding around the kitchen in my socks and fell, knocking out my two front teeth. No scans were ever taken, and it was never suspected that anything happened to or was wrong with my jaws. They just weren't taken into consideration.

My symptoms didn't begin to show until my senior year of high school; my jaws had been clicking and making sounds for a while, but one day, I woke up and couldn't open my mouth. It was completely stuck shut, and I was terrified. I was recommended to a doctor who specialized in TMJ disorders. I'd had headaches for as long as I can remember (even as a kid) and thought it was hereditary as my mom and grandmother have migraines.

[July 2010: Dr. Fusilier, Orlando]  I began splint therapy in 2010, diagnosed simply with TMJD from grinding my teeth at night. X-rays were taken, and I was fitted for splints and given two prescriptions (which I'll find the names for later). The splints helped temporarily, but my pain got much, much worse, prompting my doctor to test me for a lot of scary diseases, including auto-immune diseases which would mean that my body was basically attacking and hurting itself. Everything came back negative on my test results, leaving him stumped. He said it looked as if the bone in my right jaw had just melted away and deteriorated. He one day did a certain scan (to be named, but it was amazing) showing the actual joints in 3D imagery and their state of deterioration and we then remembered that I fell on my face those years ago. I continued to see Dr. Fusilier frequently for two years, trying various dosages of the medications and splint therapy without relief.

In between these two specialists, I regularly saw my dentist, who has always tried his best to help. He sent me to an Orthodontist, thinking that straightening my teeth might could resolve the issues. My consult with Ortho Dr. Wong (Clermont) was of no help to my TMJ unless I just wanted aesthetic treatment. My dentist suggested from the beginning to see a specialist by the name of Dr. Piper, who would most likely recommend surgery. I wasn't ready at that point, and followed his recommendation to see Dr. Andrews.

[December 2013: Dr. Andrews, Orlando] I next moved on to a maxillofacial pain specialist. He was not a TMJ specialist, but had a colleague who was. Dr. Andrews created splints for me that were very comfortable and it caused me great pain to go without them. He "invented" them and the new treatment plan itself. I made a rash decision during my first consult to move forward; I was ready to just try anything to get better. He believed that his new orthodic device would move my joints into the correct posture, allowing space for my jaws to re-grow the bone that had deteriorated from my right side due to the injury. A few months into treatment, I began seeing a physical therapist to help with the pain as Dr. Andrews was just focused on splint therapy and taking as many X-rays as he possibly could. My treatment plan was to take 9 months, and started in December.

I need to tally up how many x-rays this man took; seriously, the guy loved 'em.

Radiation exposure, anyone?

[February 2014: Cyndy Zentmeyer, Clermont] My wonderful Physical Therapist, Cyndy, helped me immensely over the time that I saw her. She corrected my posture, which took away a lot of pain, did some manipulation and was actually able to unlock my jaw, and always let me lay in her office as long as I wanted on the most wonderful moist heat system that she has. I saw her twice a week for probably 2 months, then once a week for a few months after that, then as needed, as I felt the pain getting worse with each day and getting less and less relief. I saw Cyndy regularly until October.

[April 2014: Dr. Morales, Orlando] I was referred to Dr. Andrews' TMJ specialist after mentioning to him once all the pain that I was in, as Dr. Andrews' concerns lied in correcting the position of my jaws. He was an hour and a half late to see me, barely looked at my medical history, charts and scans, and told me he could do surgery for me and that it "might" help. I left without saying much to him, and in tears. He didn't go into detail about his surgery and I saw the whole appointment as a waste of time.

I had this idea in my head that surgery wasn't for me, that even though the last doctor failed, this one will be able to fix me, and so on and so forth with the next guy down the line; that there had to be another option. I still didn't know what exactly was going on inside and what condition my jaws were in, just that they hurt and locked a lot more than they should.

Physical therapy went really well for a while. I had corrected my posture, taking away a lot of pain, and having the TMJ ligaments and muscles massaged from inside my mouth as well as other manipulations worked wonders. It was painful, but in that good way that you know it's going to help afterwards.

About 8 months into Dr. Andrews' treatment, he realized that it was not going as planned, and advised me to consider surgery. Although things didn't work out with him, he is the most caring, charismatic, and optimistic doctor I have ever met. Every time he walked into the exam room, regardless of how I was feeling, he brought a smile to my face.

After trying any treatment method I could to alleviate my locked jaws, splitting headaches, severe neck pain, and inability to eat solid food (all daily), I was finally ready to consider surgery.

I also dabbled in chiropractic adjustments and massages frequently for about a month in October, but didn't find relief that lasted more than a few days.

To explain where I was before surgery, PT, chiropractic adjustments, TMJ specialized massages, and splint therapy were no longer helping. I had been experiencing severe, stabbing pain all throughout my face and neck all day, each day, and was diagnosed with depression due to a medical condition. To this day I haven't acted like myself in as long as I can remember. I was overly sensitive to light and sound, irritable, and it was painful to talk, eat, and hold my head upright.

.  .  .

I kept my pain private, never talking about it, and only acting on it.

I always felt like I was unpleasant to be around because of the pain. I was withdrawn from friends, and found myself becoming less outgoing. I continued going out and doing things as I normally would, but wouldn't have as good of a time, was ready to turn in early, and became way more easily irritable. 

Annnnd this is how I felt most of the time.

To be continued!