Gateway Dental

im only 15, and ive had tmj for about four years. Its realllyyy bad, and ive gone to specialists and physio for it already but i was just wondering if anyone had some tips i could do at home that relieve the pain. I wear a mouthguard at night, im always massaging my jaw, completely stopped chewing gum, and even use deep cold when its really bad. any more tips on what i could do?

Unfortunately the TMJ is a joint and there are really no “specialist” for that particular joint. Night guard is the real only option that can “help” with the problem. The guard should be help your joint relax during the night but over the counter also may help. Stress plays a role with the pain as your muscles may tighten up by jaw clinching or teeth grinding at night during your sleep, at your age it’s not unusual. As you grow up and TMD will decrease a bit. It will come and go.

I guess it’s more information than help. Sorry I can’t help further.

Good luck.

I am scheduled to have my upper left wisdom tooth extracted tomorrow morning. I am 35 years old, but feel like a baby because I am so EXTREMELY nervous. It is not impacted, and I will be keeping my other 3 wisdom teeth. The one getting extracted has decay and is broken. I will be awake for the procedure. The oral surgeon gave me a presciption for a sedative called Halcion that I am to take 1 hour before the extraction, and an antibiotic that I will be starting the day of the extraction. The surgeon warned me that I may feel about 20 pounds of pressure while he is extracting the tooth, which sounds so frightening to me. He also warned me that the tooth will probably break as he pulls it. I am very nervous and don't know what to expect during & after the procedure, and if I should be worried about any side effects with Halcion. Also I have a very senstive gag reflex and am worried about that. I am also worried about the crunch noise, and about how they get the tooth out if it breaks.

Hopefully, it WON'T break, but it's good that they let you know what COULD happen.

It is VERY important to keep your head still as he's taking out the tooth. This will lessen the chance of it breaking. It won't hurt, but there will be a lot of pressure. If it does break, sometimes they will use a drill to separate the tooth into more than one piece. It's not a big deal… kind of like getting a filling. Then they will be able to take out the rest of the tooth. Sometimes they will use an instrument that looks kind of like a screwdriver. With a little lever action, they can pop out the root.

If you take anything before or after for pain, don't use Aspirin (ASA, acetesalicylic acid). It thins the blood and cause more bleeding than necessary – and prevent a good clot from forming to start the healing process.

If you DO have a little extra bleeding after (some oozing is normal), moisten a tea bag and bite gently on that instead of gauze. The tannic acid in the tea is a natural blood constrictor and will help to stop the bleeding. And remember, take it easy and no smoking or any hot drinks or soup for the rest of the day.

I had posted an earlier question about numbness after wisdom tooth extraction. I forgot to add the most important detail. It has been 1 month since, and I still have numbness in my lower lip area. It appears I have some nerve damage. The questions are how long should I expect this feeling to last? and Should I contact another dentist or oral surgeon? Is this permanent?

You really got to contact who ever did the extraction for you. They must have damaged some parts of the nerve system. Normally, the numbness should be gone by about 2 hours, that's why they give you very strong pain killers. I'm only 13 and I got mine done; well, my mom's a dentist and she did it for me so if something was wrong it was easy for me to talk to. You really urgently need to go see your dentist, and also maybe your doctor (if it is a bad nerve damage). Good Luck! xoxo

I have some pretty bad TMJ issues and will be seeing a specialist shortly, but I grind my teeth so badly at night that my teeth and jaw hurt when I wake up. I wanted to use an over-the-counter mouth guard for some relief until I see the specialist, but the package warns not to use if you have TMJ or jaw clicking associated with TMJ. Any ideas as to why?

Night guards are sold over the counter not for TMJ problems exactly but for a condition known as bruxism or grinding of teeth. Since you already have a TMJ problem, wearing mouth guards are going to worsen things because of abnormal muscle pull in the TMJ area. Thats why dont use it when you are sleeping.

I had my lower right wisdom tooth extracted a couple of weeks ago, it seems to be healing well the dissolveable stitches have gone and no hole it seems! The rest of that side of my mouth is really painful still, so I was wondering how long other people were in pain after wisdom tooth extraction? I presume it's due to bruising.
I went back last week and they said everything was healing fine no sign of infection, they couldn't tell me why I was in so much pain still.
It was supposedly an easy extraction so no bone or gum cutting needed.

Everyone has different results because everyone's wisdom teeth are different. I had two done, separately, the first took a couple of days to settle down and the other a couple of weeks because it had been deep into my jaw. It may indeed just be bruising, but to set your mind at rest go back to the dentist.

I have recently been dx with tmj. I had 3 surgeries (which required my mouth to be open) and 2 root canals done. Plus I clench at night and when stressed. I had some craniosacral therapy 1 time and I could see where this would really help but it's expensive. Can a chiropractor help tmj too?

I'm sure a lot of chiropractors (and die hard believers) will answer that chiropractic can certainly help, but that's because they think chiropractic can help anything and everything. A similar practitioner (osteopath) has already given his two cents. To which, I have to comment. He stated that with his techniques he's had "some good results". To me, the word "some" means that majority of the time the results were not favorable. That is the difference between these alternative practitioners and conventional medical doctors. Alternative practitioners like chiropractors (and apparently osteopaths) will stick with their only "catch all" type of treatment, no matter what (maybe because its all they can do? Although Osteopaths in the U.S. can provide conventional medical treatments as well). But you'll see a chiropractor continue to "adjust" patients despite the many patients who don't improve. Eventually, one patient is bound to tell them that they feel better. And when that happens, they'll make comments like, "I've seen some success with this treatment". Compared to what!? Two success stories will make the chiropractor instantly forget about the two dozen failures. And that brings me to my last point. Chiropractors never concede a failure, because they'll always rationalize that it just hasn't started to work yet. Or they'll say, "even though you can't tell, it is working". In other words, your feedback is only important when it validates what they've done.

But to answer your question, I'd see a real medical doctor that specializes in these types of disorders.

Hi! I had a tooth extraction 8 days ago and now, my blood clot may be gone… I'm not sure because I can't see very well into the extraction site. I don't really feel pain or anything though.

I'm just wondering how long a blood clot generally needs to last after a tooth extraction. Any help would be really appreciated.

the blood clot is the foundation for healing. Healing involves formation of bone in the former site of the tooth. So there isn't an exact timeframe of how long a blood clot should stay in a post-operative extraction site.

I'm just wondering though…8 days and it's still open? Do you have any systemic issues? (bleeding disorders, hypertension, diabetes) I think you might want to consult with the dentist that extracted your tooth.

I've been to five different doctors, none of which have been able to help me when it comes to tmj and my terrible headaches that i've been suffering with for five years. i'm going to a dentist tomorrow and i hope that they can help me. it seems like doctors just want to prescribe you a ton of medication and never really solve the problem.

because you need to see an orthordontis. they say that you need a splint but tell them no. I have had one and it did nothing. you need a biteblock. It is like a splint except it has a spring in it. you wear it at night time when you sleep only. It is not cheap, but you will never regret it. When the orthordontis says to try the splint tell him or her you dont want to waste money and you know a lot of people that have tried them and they don't work. you don't have to know them I do. But a doctor can not help you with this. there maybe a chance that a denture center maybe able to make one but i don't know for sure mine was made by my orthordontist. worked great the only thing that worked.