TMJ Forum - Tmj..what Causes It???

Hi ld,
i'm finally feeling well, sheesh. I'll try to keep this short, but it could easily be made into a novel. After 25 years of having this and researching like crazy, I believe the number one cause of tmj is grinding, clenching, stress, lack of good rem sleep. I wrote four things but it actually is only one.

The temporomandibular joints (tmj) is the most active and complex joint in the body and does not have the stability that other joints have. A ligament disc is what helps the mouth to open,close and move sideways without hurting (bone on bone or tendon on tendon, etc.) but frequently something goes wrong - like we are born with jaws too small, or we have whiplash accidents that force the disc forward and gets caught, or most of the time we live in a too stressful life and grind and clench like crazy when sleeping. Usually this means we are unable to get to rem sleep because our body is basically paralyzed during that short time to relax the body like it needs. Thus, we then are always tired also. Plus, in the age of computers, etc., we hold our heads and necks forward which aggravates the situation.

So, we keep grinding (teeth) because life just won't relax and bam, one day we wake up in pain or a pop happens when we open our mouths. It could be a simple sore jaw, or slight headache or full fledge killing jaw pain with mouth locked open (that would be my case). A lot of times, this really doesn't go any further except for occasional headaches, soreness, popping or bite feeling funny some days, but some people get it worse as time goes on and stress (grinding) never lets up. Continuous popping is the major minor problem to worry about getting worse. That actually means your disc is moving over the condyle (out of joint) and it's not supposed to. One day it just might not move back where it belongs and you are locked open or closed. Help.

Once that stupid disc goes out, it usually goes in and out continually causing damage to everything around that area (muscles and tendons particularly). Plus, that joint is so extremely close to the major nerve in the body and the major artery in the body, so all the little nerves branches and vein branches are being pinched and hurt all the time. Then the inner ear is right there and now we have to worry about dizziness, stuffy ears, loss of hearing, etc. It so sadly just goes on and on. And the longer the disc doesn't get fixed, the more the pain starts to move down the body to the neck, shoulders and back. Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

So you would think that just fixing the disc would do it, solve the whole problem. This is one the great mysteries of tmj. No one has truly been able to find out how to do that. Almost everything that has been tried over the years has failed and even made the matter worse.

Then we need to go to the root cause - grinding, clenching, stress and sleep. Now there is the great mystery.

Sadly because the medical field just do not understand, and for some reason, don't seem to want to understand, it is very difficult to find good medical help and this can make the problem worse because no healing is able to take place or we are told we are crazy (which makes pain worse), or we are treated incorrectly which then causes bigger problems. It is so scarey and maddening. So few people (sufferers more so than doctors) want to believe that grinding could have started all this and have made it just get worse. We want a quick fix. We don't want to be told that we can't handle the stresses of life in a more constructive way.

What can I tell you? I'm there myself. After 25 years, I have finally accepted this root cause. But there the mystery and it is a scarey one - how do we stop grinding and clenching our teeth at night? How do we get a good night's sleep? We try pills and sometimes it helps, but it won't forever. We try braces, surgery, bite splints, etc., and some seem to work, some make it worse and some do not work at all, but none completely solve the problem.

While we keep search for the "fix" - we keep trying for the right combination of pills, bite splints, bite fixed, massage & physical therapy, sleep testing, and psychological therapy, etc. We have to. We have to do something to help ourselves. If anyone ever comes up with an easy fix for grinding and clenching teeth, that person would have the gratitude of so many people and easily become a millionaire.

So there is my story. Some people don't believe that there is just one root cause. I understand that thinking and injuries are of course the exception. But isn't it interesting that when a new tmj patient has one part of a tooth filed down, they are fine after that. Previously, they had been grinding to try and fix that one spot subconsciously and causing themself pain and now there is no need to continue grinding. There are other similar stories I can tell you, but I think you get the idea.

One thing I do know is if you can catch the tmj problem at the early stages and have a good dentist/doctor treat you, the success rate is very high. But sadly that doesn't happen as often as it should.

I hope this helps you understand a little bit. I think tmj is just about the worst dysfunction that a human being can have and not just because of the pain, but because of how the medical field, insurance companies, co-workers and families look at it and just don't understand, can't understand I guess. I don't know. It is a very frustrating thing to have. It takes over your life and make your life worse for it. I hate it but what good does that do? You just have to keep trying and trying to find something, anything to help you cope with it.

Bye and god bless...
Carol