Please please help, any dentists or anybody who knows about Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction???

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I have had pain on the right side of my jaw coming from the joint itself for over a week now, I initially thought it was earache and went to GP who diagnosed TMJ told me to have soft diet and rest the joint. This with mild painkillers was fine. Saturday it started to get more painful, on Sunday I woke in absolute agony NHS direct were no help apparently even though I was in intense pain it didn't warrant any emergency appointments with either dentist or doctor.
Monday I went back to GP, crying with the pain. He gave me Codeine Phosphate tablets and told me to go to dentist. Dentist say they are going to call me sometime today with emergency app.
But I have been up since 5am crying with pain It is absolute agony, codeine not even touching it any more, and I cannot open my mouth at all without screaming in pain.
Does anyone know what the dentist will/can do? Can they stop this pain? I am almost verging on just going to the hospital the pain is so intense, I just can't cope with it. Don't want to bother if they will just send me away though

Hi dont know much about TMJ but have suffered from problems with my teeth over last couple of weeks and have been in agony which again codeine didn't touch.

The dentist recommended to take ibroufen aswell as the codeine , make sure however that it is pure ibrofen amd not mixed with anything else. Speak to pharmist first.

Re dentist - he will xray the jaw . You may have probelms with teeth as often pain with teeth is displaced . Dont expect mircacles today with the emergency appointment - not all will be solved and you will have to go back no doubt . Dentist may also prescribe antibiotics.

Thanks CaptainU, I have been alternating the Ibuprofen with the codeine already, until this morning the mix was working well, not completely taking the pain away, but dulling it enough to cope. Now though no effect.
Dr was sure the problem is just the joint. Is scraping and clicking very painfully when mouth is opened or closed. No sign of any infection at all.
AllI really need to know is if the dentist is able to eother do or give me something to at the very least minimize this pain, I just cannot cope with it, I can't sleep, I can't eat am just crying with pain

I get this (I have Fibromyglia) and it often comes with it.

I take painkillers anyway, but my dentist told me when I was having wisdom teeth probs years ago to take the large disolvable paracetamol, I got them from boots, about the size of a tenpence. They worked better than anything.

So when I get bad pain now, I boost the Codiene with them and thay work.

I really feel for you about the pain - I went to the dentist three times in one week due to pain etc .

On first visit he took xrays etc and couldn't see anything but prescribed codine and antibitiocs just in case there was any infection that he couldn't see. On second occassion he re did a filling that he said MAY be the problem - I begged him to do it so we could eliminated that .

Three days later I am still in agony and crying , like you , with pain . I got an emergency appointment and begged for more poain killers , thats is when he suggsted ibrofen. Another xray revealed root canal problem with a rear molar.

Had to wait over the weekend then before I could start the treatment , go back thsi week to fiish it off.

I really do feel for you about the pain - I had it for a week.

Hello

really sorry about your pain

I had lots of problems with my wisdoms last year and to cut a long story short was diagnosed with this condition. My jaw had essentially gone into a svere spasm and thr muscles were all working against each other, causing the jaw joint to become mis-aligned.It was such severe pain that I thought i had a rampant abcess. My dentist said she se people who have this and think they have a brain tumour as the sometimes pain radiates up towards the head.

For me, she made a mouth 'guard' which i had to place in mymouth as often as poss which made the muscles rest. I also had diazepam (a muscle relaxant as well as its anti anxiety properies!) Also co-codamols which did help me but did not take the paoin away. The dentist also 'filed' some of my teeth down (not scary or painful!) slightly to relieve my bite whilst I was waiting for the surgery.

Bottom line however was needed to have all of my wisdoms out, which I did and pain went virtually overnight.

Apparently its not just wisoms which can cause this but if any teeth have become mis-aligned. The dentist should be able to advise you what is causing your specific problem and offer you various ways to help- dont despair you will be ok!!!!!!

I also had this. It felt as if my jaw had come off its tracks. I was waking up with clenched teeth in the morning and it was very painful. It took about a month to go and I had to be very careful what I bit into. I did not go down the mouthguard route but that would have been next.

I also had earache which can be referred pain. I had my ears syringed and it took ages to get all the wax out, so that is worth checking. Hope you get this sorted.

I have this. my jaw clicks unattractively when i open my mouth (even just a little bit). it also aches alot and i have to click it painfully to ease the ache IYSWIM. Mine is definately stress related. the pain goes right up into my ear.
I have a thing a bit like a gum shield to wear at night, it stops me clenching my jaw when i'm asleep. it did take some getting used to to sleep with it in but it does help. I only tend to wear it in times of stress now when my jaw starts aching again (at the mo this is evry night!)
interestingly it is worst the side where i still have my wisdom teeth - the other side got removed when there wasn't rom for them to come through properly years ago.
There are also exercises to do which involve keeping your lips closed, your tongue curled back and opening your jaw. this also helps. oh and the bite guard/gumshield thing cost around £100.

Thank you everyone for your help. I'm still waiting for dentist to call me. I rang my mum earlier crying and she called dentist for me as soon as they opened (I can barely talk now - it hurts too much) They told her I have to wait until after 10am. So hopefully will hear soon.
I still have my wisdom teeth on the painful side, if it's just a case of taking them out I think at this point I'd happily do it myself it hurts so much!

Will let you know how I get on at dentist.

Just another person saying similar stuff - I had my wisdom teeth all taken out, and then when the problem came back a couple years later, a mouthguard made (was about £30 as the moulds were NHS). Fixed it within a couple weeks, and I use the guard when I start to feel it coming back when I'm really stressed - within a week it dies down again.

A hot water bottle on the joint may help a little in the meantime?

Hey Bored !

How did you get on today ?

I have mouth guard for TMJ. Used to be really painful and I wore it a lot, especially at night. However, I haven't worn it for years now, possibly since I had the kids although I'm not sure this is linked. My jaw is fine and has been for ages. Long may it last. Mouth guard is called a bite raiser and changes the bite of your jaw to allow muscles to relax.

Finally got to dentist at half four today, and I do not have TMJ! I had an abcess, was contained in the tooth hadn't made my face swell or anything which is what I would normally have expected with an abcess, but the pressure of it was such that it had sent my muscles into spasm mimicking the symptoms of TMJ.
I had to lose the tooth but it was instant relief, pain completely gone!!
It was the tooth directly in front of my wisdom tooth and the dentist assured me that my wisdom tooth will eventually move forward so I won't be left with an obvious gap either.

thanks for all the help
very relieved bvvb!

Good to hear that all is now ok , unimaginable relief when that pain goes