this whole immigration process is driving me nuts

[Aymerlu 3]

I have serious TMJ which my dentist says was caused by me grinding my teeth. I have had a few bite plates made which I wear at night.....sometimes during the day and it has done wonders. Those soft mouth guards did nothing for me.

[deadbird 2]

I don't grind my teeth in my sleep (at least I don't think I do) but I do have TMJ (pretty sure - my dentist thinks I might cuz I have some of the signs)

I can pop my jaw..

Every first bite of every meal is excrutiatingly painful.. cuz I guess you open your mouth wider than when speaking..

randomly during speech sometimes I *pop* my jaw and bloody hell does it hurt

and sometimes, randomly (although not that often) my jaw will lock. and then I've gotta push against the lock to unlock it and it pops/cracks when that happens..

oh!!!! and when I yawn! forgot about that til it just happened.. I can sometimes avoid it if I go slow

sux

sorry if that was graphic

didn't realize til I was done that it would be

LOL it's not that graphic. I had a lot of the same problems with my jaw till I had my impacted wisdom teeth removed, but now it's the grinding that's causing the pain. (I had my wisdom teeth out when I was 15, so 8 years ago...the oral surgeon said I was like the youngest person he'd removed fully formed wisdom teeth from!) The pain was so bad back then I was reduced to eating non-solid foods, and couldn't have anything crunchy like chips.

[deadbird 2]

I have serious TMJ which my dentist says was caused by me grinding my teeth. I have had a few bite plates made which I wear at night.....sometimes during the day and it has done wonders. Those soft mouth guards did nothing for me.

The one I have is like a bite plate you make at home, it's not soft though. I kind of wish it wasn't flat on the bottom though so I could shut my mouth when I sleep because having it open with plastic wedged in there is not something I'm used to. lol

[Aymerlu 3]

I have serious TMJ which my dentist says was caused by me grinding my teeth. I have had a few bite plates made which I wear at night.....sometimes during the day and it has done wonders. Those soft mouth guards did nothing for me.

The one I have is like a bite plate you make at home, it's not soft though. I kind of wish it wasn't flat on the bottom though so I could shut my mouth when I sleep because having it open with plastic wedged in there is not something I'm used to. lol

The one I have is made from hard acrylic (I think) Smells like I'm getting my nails done when they are making it and it tastes like butt! (not that I've ever tasted that either) Mine just snaps over my teeth and it has a snug fit. I was scared I would choke on it while I sleep, but I haven't done that yet and I even bit through one once while sleep!

[deadbird 2]

Are you able to close your mouth completely? I don't want to drool all over my pillow or my fiance once he finally gets here....so unattractive lol

Right now the pain realllllly sucks any over the counter pain meds work? It really feels like they JUST took out my wisdom teeth or that I got hit in the face with a baseball bat. I wish I had some percocet, it would knock me out face first on the floor.

[Emancipation 2]

Are you able to close your mouth completely? I don't want to drool all over my pillow or my fiance once he finally gets here....so unattractive lol

My guard is very thin hard hard plastic. It has a couple of wires that grip my bottom teeth. I've always had top fitting ones but my last dentist said that only the bottom fitting ones work properly. that the bottom jaw is the only one that actually moves (as your top jaw is fixed) and it does the searching throughout the night. When a top guard is used the bottom jaw finds the foreign object and tries to get rid of the mouth guard.. and grinds and grinds all night. The dentist explained that a bottom guard should all but stop the grinding.

It didn't work that way for me, but i do find the bottom fitting one more comfortable.

Sorry.. i drool a lot.. and slurp the spit up (which is gross), my husband makes fun of me all the time for it. I also speak with a lisp with it in.

Obviously I put the guard in last thing.. Actually hubby always asks me as I'm falling asleep if i have it in. He's protective of me with my mouth guard

Edited August 1, 2007 by Emancipation

[doodlebug 3]

You need to go to a dentist and have a guard made for you specifically or you can really make your jaw go out of whack. Also tylenol won't help you need an anti-inflammatory like advil or aleve or motrin since the pain is caused by inflammation. The tylenol is only a pain killer and won't cure the cause it will just ease the pain a bit.

My dad's a retired dentist and my sister has worked for an oral surgeon all her life. She has a mouth guard that her doctor made for her and she takes 800 mg of ibuprofrin (sp?) a day and it really helps. (she has arthritis too which is also part of the whole tmj family). I have tmj due to my own arthritis but it's not so bad yet that I need to wear a guard.

This process can really do a number on a person both physically and mentally. You might want to find an outlet for all the stress that builds up. I used to run but my knee started popping on me so that's out the window. It did help a LOT though both with my sleeping and in general re: my mood.

[deadbird 2]

You need to go to a dentist and have a guard made for you specifically or you can really make your jaw go out of whack. Also tylenol won't help you need an anti-inflammatory like advil or aleve or motrin since the pain is caused by inflammation. The tylenol is only a pain killer and won't cure the cause it will just ease the pain a bit.

My dad's a retired dentist and my sister has worked for an oral surgeon all her life. She has a mouth guard that her doctor made for her and she takes 800 mg of ibuprofrin (sp?) a day and it really helps. (she has arthritis too which is also part of the whole tmj family). I have tmj due to my own arthritis but it's not so bad yet that I need to wear a guard.

This process can really do a number on a person both physically and mentally. You might want to find an outlet for all the stress that builds up. I used to run but my knee started popping on me so that's out the window. It did help a LOT though both with my sleeping and in general re: my mood.

Thanks for the advice

Ok, one night with the awkward guard could be why I'm in so much pain right now. I'll call my dentist in the morning.

I already work out a lot and it doesn't help w/ the anxiety . I'm totally overwhelmed...not just with immigration, but new job, basement remodeling, yardsale, wedding....ahhhhh!!!