shocking pain from mouth to ear

Hi val1511,

The specific quality of electric shock style pain, as far as I know, is TN. It's not something I've heard anyone with TMJ (and no TN) describe. Whether or not the TN is a product of the TMJ or something else is hard to know. Either way, I'm sorry to hear it's something you are experiencing. I imagine it's a pretty terrible sensation.

Because you have so much morning pain, I wonder if you are doing a lot of clenching and grinding at night. This is something you might want to look into. The confusing this is that bruxing can cause TMJ and TMJ issues can cause bruxing. When looking for a treatment, it might be important to figure out which applies to you.

I'd start by seeing a really good modern neuromuscular dentist. If you wind up seeing a traditional NM dentist, you will not get access to the full spectrum of treatments as they only believe TMJ is caused by joints and muscles only(this happened to me). It's scary how many people get the wrong treatments. There are no standard practices in the field of TMJ - specialists disagree on its causes and treatments, so it's easy to get the wrong treatment and hard to find the right one. It might be an idea get two medical opinions and then you might have a clearer idea of what's going on. This isn't necessary with many disorders, but with TMJD I think it is. I've seen too many sad stories on these sites of people who get the wrong treatments for their condition and wind up in more pain.

It's important to know that are also people like me, who may have seen the wrong dentist at first and spent lots of time and money on treatments but eventually find their way to the best treatment for them and heal from TMJD. There are also people who find the right treatments quickly, although this seems somewhat rare. I am explaining all this in the hopes that you will find yourself in the last category!

I'd really recommend researching the best person in your area, make sure they have a history of excellence in treating TMJ disorder and travel if necessary to see them. If it turns out you do have TMJD, there are lots of things you can do to improve your pain - while undergoing treatment or not. Come back and see us if this is the case.

Wish you a speedy recovery

I've heard a lot of tn caused by tmj. Doctors will only prescribe pain medicine which you may or may not need, there is no cure. Tmj dentists can help fix the cause. Especially since you have pain when you chew I would get going with that.