r/TMJ

I’ve been struggling with a closed lockjaw for 8 months. It’s hard because I understand every place will have mixed views, but I’m scared to risk making my jaw issue worse or spending thousands of dollars for no progress. any tmj specialist recommendations for the New York area?
I spoke to Mike Pilar, he came off a very informative, but somewhat rude.
Also considering:
- Gelp center
- Ny tmj and orafacial pain (Aimee werfel, Steven S. Syrop**,** Dr. Donald Tanenbaum, John E. Dinan)
- Westchester tmj and sleep (Wanda Mejia)
- TMJ & Orofacial Pain Specialist ( Dr. Nojan Bakhtiari)

Any success stories specifically with chronic lockjaw? Opinions? Advice?
I know Mike has reviews with successful lockjaw stories, but doesn’t have as much reviews as the other places and I also want to be comfortable with my doctor.

Well, I basically don't eat meat, popcorn, peanuts, gum, hard candies, or anything extremely hard anymore. When I want to eat something like cookies, I break them into tiny pieces and eat them while drinking a liquid to help soften them up. I cut things like chicken into small pieces, too. It’s really a hassle. What is your diet like? Do you ever ignore the TMJ issues?

2.5 weeks ago my daughter was coming back downstairs for the eleventy billionth time and I clenched my jaw hard enough to cause a flare.

I’m not in any pain, but my jaw is definitely misaligned and my teeth are not meeting properly like they normally would when I bite down. It’s affecting how I talk, eating, drinking….

I’ve been taking a muscle relaxer at night to see if that helps with anything. It feels better in the morning, but then as soon as I wake up and start talking, eating, drinking, it flares again.

It’s better than it was but I can’t get over the last little bit. Any advice?

Hello there,

Briefly, I suffer like most of us here of tmj, mines ends up in migraines, I am eating sumatriptan like if they were m&m. I have been proposed some solution like to fix my posture, my feet, muscle because for some dentists, it's a all in one thing which I don't really believe.

Long story short, there's a specific dentist out there that might have the solution, it's Dr. Konstantin Ronkin. He has a method named after him.

For those interested by the long story (that I'll make briefly for not writing 30 pages) my pain started after a filling that broke and got replaced. Also, it's important to state that I'm clenching my teeth since I'm a kid and grinding my teeth in my sleep. So this filling that got replaced gave me very very bad pain occurred to my right side of the jaw, to my shoulder and to my head. I went back to fix it, zip it... It went worst. I seen an other dentist, he zipped some other teeth and it went even worst (all that in Russia) then I went in France, thinking dentists are better.... Wrong! He ziped a clean tooth and it get 10x worst.

But in my search of finding a dentist, one that does a t-scan , I finnaly found a specialist. He asked me 250e for the consultation but he understood that I wasn't from here and decided not to make me pay but he has explained me how he work. He looked at how my teeth are (my front teeth are covering way too much my bottom teeth) and he confirmed that I have an issue. He said he would need to do some recording of how my jaw move, how my bite process, a tscan and lot of other thing and by the end, I would have a splint (thing that goes on teeth). What this splint would do is to modify my teeth height, how they close together and everything but I would need to wear it all the time beside when I eat... Or instead of the splint to reshape all my teeth height/how it closes.A total of 2000 euro. I was sceptic and I preferred to invest in a gaming computer.... (dentist screw my teeth many times.. So you understand my sceptiness)

Fast foward, I discovered on tiktok (years latter) a dentist in Canada that was doing the same as the guy in France and decided to write him to know how much it cost bla bla bla. That I'm from Russia and it's a mess here. Shortly, he told me I was wrong and I have one of the best specialist in the world to fix this issue and it's this guy, Dr. Konstantin Ronkin.

He owns a clinic in the states, in Russia but I can't afford it. I did a tscan too and it showed that my right side is like 60% stronger( my bite is mainly on the right).

Those who are in search of a solution, you should maybe investigate in this path. Some dentists went to his seminar and got certifications '' from him '' but seminars (from my understanding) are like, I sit, I listen and I leave with a new attribute on paper. Are those good? It's maybe worth trying and if anyone tries one of those specialist and do this special splint and exams... I would love a feedback!

On my side, I sometimes able to manage the pain, to make it disappear for 3 months, 4 months before it comes back and destroys me for 1 month. Breathing exercise with the ribcage positionnement helped me a lot. Control the breathing to bring back my shoulder at level. Sports (specific back exercise at the gym) and y raise (which is very hard for me). Tongue on the palette, took me 1 2 years to learn to have my tongue there (over clinching) but I still do it wrong because I create a '' vaccum '' in my mouth and it creates pressure on my lips, my masseter and some muscles. I don't know if I still grind my teeth while sleeping, I'll ask my wife.

Hopefully some of those informations will help someone and one of you will try it and come back with good news 😂 else, good luck with this but I am sure it has to do with teeth height/bite close

Edit : the guy in canada that referred me to the Russian guy is Dr Curtis Westersund he has 4.9 on Google but it's easy to pay for reviews on Google so I don't trust it and for France it was Meyer Smile Clinic a dental office located in Marseille, France, at [314 Avenue du Prado, 13008 Marseille and I believe the name of the guy is Dr Jean Michel Meyer, he has 4.5 on Google which is more believable because French like to complain 😄😄

Hi everyone, as per the title I’m trying to find advice which pertains to UK healthcare services.

I’ve had TMJ my whole life, inherited it from my dad. It’s just gotten worse with age (I’m 24 now). I had braces when I was younger and have had a fair few fillings because I grind my teeth like no other.

I’ve gotten Botox a couple of times from an aesthetics nurse which provided relief - but it is only temporary and expensive! I have a mouth guard which I wear and while it relieves the actual tooth grinding/bone/gum pain, I believe that it has no actual effect on relieving the tension within the massater muscle itself. I often wake up with headaches and excruciating pain all in my temples, sometimes I can’t leave my bed I’m in so much pain, or it results in a full blown migraine. And my jaw constantly pops every time I open and close it.

I’ve expressed this to my dentist but they say just to keep wearing my mouth guard or keep getting Botox. But in all fairness I am worried for the future ramifications will be for my jaw health, as the mouth guard doesn’t fully work, and I can’t keep paying for Botox constantly.

Has anyone been able to get a referral to a specialist in the UK for this, should I keep bartering my dentist or maybe give my GP a shot?

Sorry if this was worded weird or just comes off as a rant, I’m just tired of this and am glad I’ve found this page with people who share my experience.

(25F) Got a TMJ consult at my dentist (Canada) since waiting for my referral for the ENT was going to take wayyy too long (years). I’ve had TMJ for over 10 years and sometimes it’s so bad I can’t eat, have migraines, and pretty much have constant ringing in my ears. I feel it every day and it’s just gotten so bad recently that it was genuinely making me feel like I just couldn’t do it anymore. So saw my dentist, he took lots of pictures and examined it and then got back to me that it’d be 300 units and would be 1,200. I’ve tried night guards (continue to wear), physio, biostim, massage, muscle creams, medications, heat, and even just finished Invisalign. None of these things provide me genuine relief. I am diagnosed with anxiety and autism, so im just generally uncomfortable and clenching 24/7.

Is this a normal amount and price??

Hi everyone. I'm 20. I’m trying to understand whether my jaw/TMJ problems could be contributing to my speech difficulties.

I have been experiencing TMJ/jaw-related problems along with what feels like increased tension or activity in my facial and jaw muscles. I also tend to clench my teeth, especially when I’m stressed, angry, or tense.

My main symptoms are:

- Jaw/TMJ discomfort and fatigue

- Tight or overactive-feeling facial/jaw muscles

- Teeth clenching

- Difficulty pronouncing certain sounds clearly (not always), especially S; I also sometimes have difficulty with L/R

- My speech tends to become worse when I’m nervous or tense

- I sometimes feel that my jaw/facial muscles are working too much when I speak

- I have a deep overbite/Class II Division 2-type bite with class I molar relation according to a previous dental assessment

I’m wondering:

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who had both TMD/jaw muscle problems and speech difficulties, rather than general TMJ advice.

Thanks!

Anyone with a good experience that actually got some relief because I am loosing hope. I would like to know if anyone had a good experience with a doctor here in houston or near. What did they do to relief your pain? Did they make it permanent after?
I have tried many medications and they all seem to do the opposite instead of helping they make me worse. I also tried a 24/7 fixed orthotic and it didn’t help buy i just felt like the orthotic was never close to accurate. It was always extremely off from one side which was my right side idk why I think the lab was making it wrong.

just had a massive mental breakdown because of tmj.

can’t ever imagine having kids with this pain, holding down a proper job, or maintaining my current friendships.

i’m 20F. shit is so rough. when i cry it makes it worse but.

in 10 days i have my consultation to arrange my splint and botox.

i’m hanging on until then, but honestly suicide has never crossed my mind so much.
i just feel trapped in my own face. you guys get it
i used to be so talkative, so bubbly, the life of the party, so sociable

i’m now an introvert. completely. i drink all the time to give me pain relief as it is the only thing that makes the pain manageable enough to talk.

guys you are not alone 💗

TMJ SUCKS ASS!!!

Buckle up. This is a detailed post of the symptoms i have, partly a rant and partly me wanting to hear from people who have actually gone through something similar and what their journey was like.

A few weeks ago I wasn't even thinking about my TMJ. Now somehow I'm dealing with this whole collection of jaw/face symptoms lol.

For some dental background, both of my lower wisdom teeth have been erupting more recently. I could actually tell because I have a gap on my lower left side between my molar and premolar, and the shape/size of that gap changed as the wisdom tooth came out more. Food gets trapped there pretty easily.

Because of that gap I've also tended to chew more on my right side for quite a while.

Then one day I was chewing gum specifically because I was trying to get some trapped food out of the gap. While chewing the gum, I suddenly noticed my right TMJ clicking.

And that's basically where this whole thing started.

The right side now clicks when I open my mouth. I can physically feel the click if I put my finger over the joint. Interestingly, I've noticed that if I chew on the left side, the right-sided click becomes much louder/more prominent. If I chew on the right side, the clicking is noticeably less prominent.

There's some soreness/pain around both TMJs now, although the actual clicking is still only on the right.

Then I started getting other weird symptoms.

I've had intermittent deep ear pain, mainly on the right but occasionally on the left too. I actually had some of the right ear pain even before the clicking started.

I've also been getting these brief sharp/electrical/needle-like pains in both masseter/jaw muscles.

Then I started noticing what feels like muscle twitching/fasciculations just in front of both ears. One really weird thing I've noticed is that it seems positional:

• Sleep/lie on my left side → left side starts twitching.
• Sleep/lie on my right side → right side starts twitching.
• Lie on my back → it can happen on either side.

I've also noticed that after spending quite a bit of time sleeping on my right side recently, everything seemed to flare up more.

And now today I developed another symptom. While chewing breakfast, I suddenly started getting a stabbing pain in my temple, mostly in the lower temple area just above/in front of the ear. It continued to come and go afterward while I was driving. The area is also actually tender when I press on it. There's another spot slightly higher up in my temple that occasionally hurts too, but the lower spot is much more noticeable.

I also grind/clench my teeth, which I'm sure isn't helping.

So at this point I have:

• Right TMJ clicking
• Bilateral TMJ soreness
• Pain with fully opening my mouth
• Bilateral masseter/jaw pain
• Intermittent deep ear pain
• Twitching/spasms around the area in front of both ears
• New stabbing/tender temporalis/temple pain
• Symptoms that seem to change depending on sleeping position
• Known wisdom tooth/dental problems
• A history of chewing mostly on one side

I already know I need dental work as well. I was previously told I need multiple fillings, a root canal, and wisdom tooth extractions, so I'm planning to go back to the dentist and have everything reassessed.

I'm not claiming the wisdom teeth caused the TMJ problem. The timing is just really interesting to me because they were erupting more, my chewing had become uneven, and the actual clicking first appeared while I was chewing gum.

I'm mainly curious whether anyone here had their TMD start or progress in a similar way.

Did yours start with just clicking and then suddenly the masseter/temporalis muscles started hurting too?

Did anyone experience muscle twitching around the TMJ/temporalis area?

Did your temple become tender enough that simply pressing on it hurt?

Did sleeping on one side noticeably aggravate your symptoms?

And most importantly........what happened long term?

Did everything eventually calm down? Did the pain disappear but the clicking remain? Did PT help? Night guard? Fixing dental problems? Changing sleeping position? Muscle relaxants? Did you see a regular dentist, TMJ/orofacial pain specialist, oral surgeon, neurologist, etc.?

Would really appreciate hearing what your symptoms were like at the beginning, what you were eventually diagnosed with, what treatment you tried, and where you're at now.

I’ve tried just about everything else and these are my last options. I’ve gone to two specialists in my area and was quoted about 5k for splints, and both seemed convinced that would help me.

I’m skeptical that it will help at all, and I don’t want to pay 5k. I’ve already spent around $3000 on things like consults, physical therapy and a night guard, all to no avail.

My symptoms are lockjaw to two fingers unless I move my jaw forward to open my mouth, pain when talking/laughing for more than an hour, pain while eating, flossing etc. and clicking of course.

Should I just go for the splints and eat the massive cost, or try botox first?

Is there any way to fix an open bite (posterior and anterior, with occlusion only on 2nd molars) without jaw surgery or extraction/refractive orthodontics?

I dont have the classic "long face gummy smile" rather the opposite, a short face, but I've developed/worsened an existing open bite in the last few months. It isnt that severe but it is causing a lot of discomfort eating, TMJ problems, constant jaw clenching and trouble keeping mouth closed comfortably.

I also have a narrow palate, im open to palatal expansion like FME or MARPE

Also regarding invisalign, I'd ideally want to stay away from it due to what I've heard online, and also the fact that I'd need to wear retainers for life.

Im open to jaw surgery, but it wont be possible anytime soon atleast within the next 1 or 2 years, so I need to reliably fix this problem for the time being

With braces there is also the issue of the jaw side profile looking more recessed, or the face looking shorter and aesthetic impacts like this so Id be aiming for the most aesthetically possible option possible

What do you guys think? Im in constant pain and would really love to hear your thoughts.

My family keeps asking why I’m single and the reason is this TMJ. I can’t focus on another person at all. This has been going on over a year. I thought I was cured after an occlusal equilibrium for months and now the pain is back. Splints didn’t help, Botox didn’t help, PT only helped temporarily. I’m just lost.

Anyone have any recommendations for specialists in Hoboken for TMJ/ jaw pain? I've tried chiropractic, and physical therapy. PT seemed to be a better option but I didn't like the office/doctor I was going to.

Considering trying a new PT or any other dental specialists. Any suggestions are much appreciated 🙏

I had a routine filling a couple of months ago. The assistant told me the dentist takes a long time to do fillings and I didn’t think anything of it.

It seemed exceptionally painful when injected with numbing agent in the back of my jaw area near my ear. Then it took her about an hour to do the filling. When it was done I could tell it was way too high as it was the first point of contact when closing my mouth. This is in my left lower molar. They said sleep on it and come back if you don’t like the results.

It was clearly way too high and it felt very awkward so I went back the next day. The assistant ground down the filling until it felt like a good fit.

I had cold sensitivity in the area for a couple of days and general soreness near my ear but didn’t think anything of it. They said it’s normal. After a month or so I went back because the pain near my ear never went away and got worse. They said the bite looks normal and suggested I see a TMJ specialist.

Now I’m in debilitating pain. Can’t open my mouth wide, can’t chew on left side which is my chewing side. Extremely frustrated and unhappy that this seems like it might be a lifelong condition now. I’m considering legal action. I think this dentist was low quality and I didn’t know the risks associated with having my mouth hyper extended open for such a long time, or the bite alignment issues, or injection issues. This is all new to me. I’ve never had jaw pain before.

The waiting list to see a TMJ specialist is several months. So I’m just calling a couple of times a week to see if there are cancellations I can take.

I’ve just been following the advice of google and being gentle with my jaw and trying to just let it rest and chew soft foods on the other side of my mouth. I’ve been taking a good bit of ibuprofen too. So far it’s only gotten worse.

My bite and everything just feels weird now too. It’s hard to describe but my bite doesn’t feel natural at all anymore even though that dentist said everything looks fine with their paper biting stain test.

Other than following google instructions and waiting to see a specialist I’m not sure what to do. I think I’m mostly venting. This sucks a lot and has lowered my quality of life by a lot.

I'm 18 years old, had mild TMJ symptoms for the past 1-2 years, but it never bothered me too much, however 3 days ago I found a video by Dr. Adam Fields on YouTube and started doing it, and now my jaw hurts even more than before and I never had much clicking in my jaw before but now it's clicking like crazy..

Could the massage cause it?

I wanted to share my success story with lock jaw/displaced disk without reduction incase it helps others!! PRF INJECTIONS MADE MY JAW PAIN GO ALMOST FULLY AWAY!!!

Backstory- I’m 25 female, and 11 months ago I woke up one morning and my jaw was locked shut, only able to open 2mm (approx the size of a pea). I couldn’t move my jaw open, side to side, or anything, literally LOCKED! I clench and grind my teeth at night so I had a mouth guard in (made by my dentist) and my jaw locked WITH the mouth gaurd in. I could not open my mouth more than 2mm, and my massester muscles were so tight, it felt like someone was screwing my jaw shut. The pain was unbearable, I couldn’t eat, sleep, talk, laugh, work, etc. Went to TMJ specialist where they flushed my jaw joint and tried to manually manipulate my jaw to open. That only opened it to 10mm. After 7 months of Physical Therapy, muscle relaxers, jaw exercises, red light, ultrasounds, soft food only, no caffeine, sleep training, hypnotherapy, and thousands of dollars later, my jaw was only able to open to 28mm (approx 2 fingers) but was stuck there with no improvement and the pain was excruciating and my mental health was at an all time low, it was affecting every single aspect of my life, and I did not know how much more pain I could handle. Anyone going through this knows how exhausting the mental, physical, and emotional impact this has on your life. My PT also did not know what else to try. I felt hopeless so I went back to my tmj specialist to see what else they can do.

He said jaw surgery was an option but it’s very expensive, and isn’t 100% successful. He also recommended a super expensive mouth gaurd, but I knew that wouldn’t help with the pain/joint issues.

He then recommended PRF injections, but they were $1200 per injection, but I was desperate for any kind of relief, so I took a gamble and did the PRF injection on my left joint (the most painful side). And it literally saved my life.

What helped -

1. PRF injections in jaw. My pain levels everyday were a 9/10. After PRF, my pain is now a 2/10. My jaw is still locked but the pain is SO much better. I never thought I’d get relief and PRF gave me that. It took 3-4 weeks for me a feel a difference, but WOW, PRF saved my life!!! Ask ur doctor about this!!!
   A PRF (platelet-rich fibrin) joint injection is a regenerative treatment that uses a concentrated mixture of your own blood cells, growth factors, and a natural fibrin matrix. Doctors inject this fluid directly into a damaged or painful joint to reduce inflammation, ease pain, and encourage the repair of cartilage and connective tissue

Cut out nicotine, caffeine, and Mary Jane, if possible. This causes heavy clenching for some people. Also, eat only soft foods if you aren’t already.
3.
Hypnosis for sleep- I grind my teeth bad when I sleep, so listening to hypnotherapy (via YouTube) during sleep and it helped me trained my subconscious to be more mindful of grinding while I slept. Also purchased a nice pil low to help with sleep posture. Now sometimes I can wake myself up when I’m grinding.
4.
Important!! Daily movement and stretches of whole body,and focus massages on the masseter muscles. Take ur middle and index finger and do circle motions on ur massester muscles. Then take ur index and thumb, put ur thumb inside ur cheek towards the back, with ur index on the outside of ur cheek, and massage the internal/external muscle in circular motions.Next, put ur tongue behind ur two front teeth as if ur saying “no”, then slowly open close, open close, and repeat 10 times.
Do all of these atleast 3-4 times a day! Also try massaging ur neck and back muscles to help relieve tension. My physical therapist taught me to do this daily and it helped with tightness but did not help with pain
5. Be VERY mindful you are not clenching during the day. I kept repeating to myself “teeth apart, tongue on roof of mouth, lips slightly touching”. Or say “Montana” and where ur tongue ends, is where ur mouth should be at resting position.
6. Physical therapy. I did this twice a week for 3 months. It helped me open my mouth a few more MM, but did not help the pain at all!

I’m still on my journey to hopefully a full recovery, but wanted to share my success incase this helps anyone!

I've been dealing with the following issues and this is my last shot at fixing it before I give up on everything entirely ✌️

20F, struggling with TMJ for half a decade now. It initially started off as facial asymmetry and developed into clicking noises every time I opened my mouth. It got to a point where I couldn't open it past a limit, it just got stuck. Visited a local dentist and they suggested that I remove both my molars because according to them my jaw bone was hitting them (?) made no sense but my mum forced me into it because getting a second opinion is not an option in my household.

It sort of helped. I can open my mouth without being restricted entirely but for losing both of my teeth I expected better results. I still experience clicking and almost a sort of bones grinding against each other sensation on the left side of my jaw every time I open it.

Apart from this, my face is being pulled to a side literally. It's been an ongoing thing but now it's extremely noticable. I also can't really use both sides of my face. Whenever I talk my lips look disoriented and my voice isn't as clear as it should be and I think TMJ is the culprit.

I also have an overbite which I suppose caused the whole issue to begin with.

My face looks underdeveloped. Especially the lower parts of it. I can't use the entire facial and neck muscles group on one side well.

I'm worried. I'm down to get to surgery too atp but I just want to get this fixed.

Idk I'd like to hear some thoughts

Anyone else get that sore throat feeling when your TMJ is flared up? At first I thought it was just symptoms from a lingering cold but now I think it happens when my jaw is especially sore after using my jaw all day ☹️ it’s a new symptom for me. How do you manage it?