To Be At Crisis Point With TMJ Pain

I’ve had a couple of custom made splints but I can’t sleep with either of them in, they just make me clench harder. And when I remove it in the morning my teeth feel like they’re going to fall out.

Good luck! Please do let me know how it goes. I am in a similar position. Saw a world renowned dentist privately who specialises in TMJ. It cost almost £2k (my parents helped thankfully) but the device he made is so awful I can't sleep with it! Waste of time and money. I feel like Botox could be the answer 🙏🏻 Hope yours goes well!

My sister suffered dreadfully with TMJ. She had botox and it did help, more than anything else that she tried upto that point.

The thing that made the biggest difference though was having the impacted wisdom tooth removed on that side. Have you anything like that going on? It was partially erupted and partially impacted. Removing it was difficult. But the relief, I don't think she's had an episode since. The botox gave her 9 months of relief. A private dentist did it for her. I took her and she was in agony. She could barely open her mouth to let the dentist look. So she gave her the botox. And within a day she could open her mouth.

You poor thing. My sister said that alternating ice and heat on the muscle gave her the best relief when she was suffering.

I feel your pain. I was under an oral maxillo consultant for a long time. I used to have Botox on the NHS but they no longer fund it. Botox comes with its own problems, it can lead to bone loss so it isn’t a long-term solution unfortunately. It does help though. I had it privately at a dentist a couple of times and it was around £270, but that was years ago so it might have increased.

I’ve massively fucked up one of my lower molars through grinding. I haven’t been able to chew on that side for a year now. I’ve been told it’s most likely cracked and was advised to have it removed, but I haven’t done anything about it yet as it doesn’t cause me pain unless I’m using it.

After that I managed to stop grinding and clenching, partly because of that tooth being painful but also the horror at the thought of fucking up more. Unfortunately I automatically developed another oral habit - running my tongue over the my bottom teeth - so the TMJ pain is back and I have ulcers on my tongue 🙄

I find massage helpful, really digging into the masseter muscles with a knuckle and then release and repeat.

Do you know why you clench/grind?

I'm the same. I've been grinding my teeth all my life and buggered up my jaw. It sticks all the time, and I have to unlock it. I also take Cocodamol daily. The NHS offered to drain my jaw but said that it can often make it worse. I think the only solution would be to go private, which I can't afford, as my dentist told me there's a private dentist I could go to who specialises in TMJ issues.
A cold compress helps.

If you’re anywhere near Leeds, the dental hospital has specialist CBT for chronic TMJ pain management. I think it’s NHS

Have you had some bloods done for things like lupus / autoimmune issues? TMJ is quite common in people with lupus, it’s all inflammation related. There are disease modifying drugs you can take for lupus related inflammation but you’d need a referral to rheumatology to investigate further.

Acupuncture can be absolutely brilliant for TMJ. Well worth a go.

I has Botox in my jaw. Im not the UK and it was covered by health insurance but it was the equivalent of about 800 GBP. It basically cured my pain by 100%
I’m now nearly 5 months on and it’s wearing off so the pain is slowly returning. I’m going to wait another month and then I’ll definitely go back for more