TMJ ... the thread formerly known as "Wisdom teeth"

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

Apparently I grind my teeth and bite while I sleep. It's causing the muscles on the right side of my jaw to tighten up and pull my jaw off alignment -- called TMJ. Haven't looked it up beyond that yet, SportsJournalists.com comes first.
Of course, my insurance won't cover the mouth guard-like thing the dentist recommends, so they said to get a night guard from Wal-Mart ... it's close enough.

 

[shotglass]

My dentist suggested that for me too, BBAM. Thing is, you'll keep it in for about two nights, and it'll be such a nuisance you'll take it out.

 

[Chi City 81]

So, you didn't get your wisdom teeth pulled?

 

[21]

TMJ can make you wish you were getting your wisdom teeth pulled, without anesthetic.

Do exactly what the dentist tells you to do, so it doesn't get worse.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

So, you didn't get your wisdom teeth pulled?

No. Still have all four.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

TMJ can make you wish you were getting your wisdom teeth pulled, without anesthetic.

Do exactly what the dentist tells you to do, so it doesn't get worse.

Yeah, I'm sitting here looking up more info, and wondering how the hell this gets better.
This is gonna suck too.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

This gonna sound crazy but ...
Just read a Web site that's suggesting the muscle strain in my jaw could be orginating in, say, my quad or my shoulder.
Might visit my chiropractor to have him take a crack at my back to relieve the jaw strain. Don't laugh (because I know some on here will). I've relieved numbness in my hand by agitating a nerve in my hip. Likewise, I've had heel pain relieved with a back popping.
Not saying he'll fix it, but a $12 trip is worth taking a chance.

 

[Freelance Hack]

Had two wisdom teeth extracted about 12 years ago. Chose the local, thinking I was man enough (I was 20) to handle it.

I leave the doctor's office able to drive off on my own and think there's nothing to it. I then proceed to treat the like it was any other.

A couple hours later, the local wears off. I immediately fell to the ground in a fetal position and cried for any pain medication I could get.

You might as well have extracted my testicles through my penis for all the pain I had.

 

[Chi City 81]

Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention the latest extraction. I had an upper wisdom tooth removed last July. Novocaine numbed my entire mouth, except, apparently, the tooth in question. I felt every last tug, including the spindly nerve being ripped from its socket. When I told the dentist I could still feel it, he gave me two additional shots -- to no avail. But he was too far along to quit. I did indeed cry. I think spup might have heard me scream all the way in the waiting room when the nerve came out. And no pain medication.

 

[The Q Man]

Apparently I grind my teeth and bite while I sleep. It's causing the muscles on the right side of my jaw to tighten up and pull my jaw off alignment -- called TMJ. Haven't looked it up beyond that yet, SportsJournalists.com comes first.
Of course, my insurance won't cover the mouth guard-like thing the dentist recommends, so they said to get a night guard from Wal-Mart ... it's close enough.

Grinding teeth while sleeping, huh? I call Bull. I think you've been over-servicing all those soccer coaches trying to get back in their good graces as you've returned to the beat.

 

[Cadet]

My evil mother scheduled for my wisdom teeth to be removed two days before New Year's my freshman year of college, specifically so I couldn't drink on New Year's Eve.

It was no biggie for me, I've had a ton of dental and orthodontal work done, but I went with my then-boyfriend a few months later when he got his out. The idiot was a smoker and lit up when he was still loopy from the drugs. He got something like dry sockets, which became incredibly painful.

 

[RokSki]

My evil mother scheduled for my wisdom teeth to be removed two days before New Year's my freshman year of college, specifically so I couldn't drink on New Year's Eve.

It was no biggie for me, I've had a ton of dental and orthodontal work done, but I went with my then-boyfriend a few months later when he got his out. The idiot was a smoker and lit up when he was still loopy from the drugs. He got something like dry sockets, which became incredibly painful.

This ranks pretty far up on the 'levels of idiocy' in my book.

 

[sportschick]

My evil mother scheduled for my wisdom teeth to be removed two days before New Year's my freshman year of college, specifically so I couldn't drink on New Year's Eve.

Your mother has some bitchy tendencies. That is all.

 

[RokSki]

My evil mother scheduled for my wisdom teeth to be removed two days before New Year's my freshman year of college, specifically so I couldn't drink on New Year's Eve.

Ahhh. You sound like the asymmetrical hair chick I knew in college.

Wait, was it you, Cadet, that spurred that reverie by me because you mentioned a messed-up haircut? Can't remember.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

Apparently I grind my teeth and bite while I sleep. It's causing the muscles on the right side of my jaw to tighten up and pull my jaw off alignment -- called TMJ. Haven't looked it up beyond that yet, SportsJournalists.com comes first.
Of course, my insurance won't cover the mouth guard-like thing the dentist recommends, so they said to get a night guard from Wal-Mart ... it's close enough.

Grinding teeth while sleeping, huh? I call Bull. I think you've been over-servicing all those soccer coaches trying to get back in their good graces as you've returned to the beat.

I'm going to record just one of your phone conversations with a bat and ball coach so you can hear the slurping at your desk.

 

[cougargirl]

I was lucky and had only two wisdom teeth grow in, hence only two needed to be removed. One of my friends from high school, however, had FIVE wisdom teeth.

 

[OnTheRiver]

My wife has TMJ. Seriously -- buy the mouthguard.

She sleeps with it in at night, and it's made all the difference in her life.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

Used the OTC mouthguard last night. Woke up with very little jaw pain ... for 10 minutes.
Probably gonna take some time to be back to normal, but I'm on the right track.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Had mine out senior year of high school. Went the total knockout route, and was 100 percent within 3-4 days. And that was in the primative days of dentistry, compared to 2007.

I've had several major surgeries since then, and wisdom tooth removal was by far the easiest.

Good luck with the mouthguard. My son wears one to because he grinds his teeth during sleep. They really help.

 

[Dyno]

I had one out right after I graduated from high school. The other three will require the services of an extremely skilled oral surgeon, I'm told. I am so afraid of dry socket that I am putting off getting the rest out until they start hurting and I can't stand the pain anymore.

My cousin had hers out about 10 years ago. She got knocked out for the procedure. Apparently, the surgeon twisted her head/neck so badly during it, though, that she ended up having serious neck problems and had to go on disability from work and was pretty much bedridden for weeks. The oral surgeon, of course, denied he'd done anything to hurt her.