Started my Neuromuscular Dentistry Treatment

So after many months of research, multiple opinions, obsessing, and contemplation, I am now officially about 3 hours into wearing a NMD orthotic after all of the preliminary tests, TENS'ing, and measurements. Like many of you, I have wondered how well this would work and after much trepidation and skepticism, I figured the only way to really know if it would work is to bite the bullet (or orthotic rather) and try it.

For those who are on the fence or considering this, I have been where you're at and I can understand the hesitation. The costs are pretty high, and in my case I'm looking at braces again after all of the adjustments are made and perfected. Will be a small fortune for sure. But if it relieves my symptoms, I'll find a way to come up with the money to pay for it. And if it fails miserably, perhaps my story will be interesting to some of you considering this treatment. I will try to be as objective and honest as possible realizing everyone's case and pathology are very different.

I figured I'd keep a diary of sorts of my progress, as before I began treatment I wondered how the whole process works. I realize every dentist of course probably does things differently so most likely your experience may vary or be completely different. Here are my initial thoughts / experiences:

Testing: This is indeed very thorough and way more extensive than any other mouth guard or orthotic I've had. To date, I have had two before this but those were made simply from basic impressions giving little thought to where the muscles actually were "relaxed." The dentists who did those were simply looking for even contact when the bite came together. The NMD diagnostic appointment took well over 3 hours and included TENS'ing, measuring my muscular forces before and after when biting, and a few different rubber orthotic molds to sample how the muscles would react to different positions. Finally the dentist felt he had a good baseline for my bite that would achieve a harmony of my jaw muscles. Was told this was confirmed by the diagnostics still attached to my face at that point. Other interesting takeaways: He was able to tell by my sustained bite test I might have some other muscular issues going on in my neck/back which might be contributing to my TMD problem(s). Not sure how that will impede or impact my issues going forward.

TENS'ing: Personally I am not a fan of this, and I find it to be somewhat uncomfortable. It's more like a violent pulse every second versus a constant buzzing I've had in other situations like at the chiropractor. The pulses are actually so intense, it will slap your teeth together uncontrollably. They can dial it down slightly, but it's definitely different from what I envisioned. The first few times take getting used to, and perhaps my comfort will change in time. The office tells me other patients come in just to TENS, while for me - I can't wait until they shut it off. It does seem to "warm up" the muscles for whatever it's worth, but my jaw is nowhere near as tight as it was in May 2011. So, hard to tell how much this would help if my masseter muscles were as tight as before.

The Orthotic (on my lower teeth): (again only 3 hours in) I find it to be tolerable but definitely not comfortable. The plastic is hard, but not rock hard. So it has the density and flexibility of a hard plastic bottle top. There is slight give when you bite down firmly, which is unlike the harder orthotics I've had previously. Eating with the device is definitely going to be a challenge and in my particular case the NMD has it so that I cannot easily contact my frontmost teeth. This will make biting into a taco for instance (or any food you'd have to bite and tear off a piece (like a slice of bread) nearly impossible to eat. Also, any sort of grinding or gnashing will be tough. My contact area for my teeth coming together is a fraction of what it once was. Now just my rear molars touch, and that's about it. So it's learning to chew all over again. For lunch I tried eating a couple of chips - and thus far the crunchy food and the hard plastic have a very unnatural feel to it. It alarmed me - like I subconsciously had a bone in my chicken. You bite down and aren't expecting this foreign object sensation. The sensation of your teeth coming together are impeded. *If that makes sense. I have a feeling I am going to steer towards softer foods because I can sense it being hard to adequately chew up anything remotely hard or coarse. The device sort of is more mentally uncomfortable than physically. There is a temptation to just chew the heck out of it because it's in your mouth. I can imagine this just takes time to get used to / adjust.

My first NMD adjustment is tomorrow - just one day after the initial fitting. I am not expecting any miracles overnight obviously but I will keep notes on my progress here. I am told there is a six week window where I either have to commit 100% or abandon ship. Hoping I experience enough of a relief in symptoms to stay the course and commit to the full treatment.

Since I am guessing it may come up as a question, my biggest symptoms are: tight jaw muscles, ringing in the ears, tingling in my hands, neck / back pain, clicking and popping of my discs reducing, sporadic vision issues, and occasional vertigo.

Will report back tomorrow to indicate any changes / progress.