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Mouth holding splint in place ?

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November 9th, 2010
I've been wearing my first lower splint a couple hours a day to get used to it this week. Well, whenever I wear it, my mouth reacts like it's holding something. The corners of my mouth turn under and it's quite obvious I'm holding something in my mouth. This can't be good, considering I'm trying to relax my facial and jaw muscles. Is this normal? Will I stop? I'm certainly not doing it on purpose.

Thank you for your replies to this TMJ newbie.
-GRH
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greenredhead
replied November 10th, 2010
Well, my diagnosis has been that my night clenching on an off bite caused one or both discs to become displaced. My major symptoms are jaw and facial pain with an inability to open my mouth very far. I have had symptoms since August 2010. I was just wondering if people get used to splints, if there is an adjustment period, and if my holding will stop.
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Hounder
replied November 12th, 2010
Experienced User
greenredhead wrote:
Well, my diagnosis has been that my night clenching on an off bite caused one or both discs to become displaced. My major symptoms are jaw and facial pain with an inability to open my mouth very far. I have had symptoms since August 2010. I was just wondering if people get used to splints, if there is an adjustment period, and if my holding will stop.


Hi Greenredhead - just to be clear, there is no evidence that an "off bite" will cause the disks to be displaced. It is the clenching itself which causes structural changes within the disk most likely. Even if you have an "on bite" the disks would have most likely displaced if your night time grinding and clenching continued.

The main thing now, however , is that they are displaced. When you clench and grind on your appliance, do you feel any discomfort ?

Splints do certainly have an adjustment period, but I'm not sure I understand the "holding" motion. Is the appliance loose ? Do you have trouble getting/keeping your lips together?

Thanks
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bry68moe
replied November 13th, 2010
Read The TMJ Healing Plan by Cynthia Peterson, PT..It is great and does have lots of self-care ideas recommended by UCLA.
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Tags: mouth, muscles, TMJ
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