T.M.J. Update!
So this is the most recent picture I have of me. I went to a wedding last night, but I'm not going to post about the wedding, I'm giving you guys a T.M.J. update. First of all, T.M.J. stands for Temporal Mandibular Joints which are basically your jaw joints right in front of your ears.
In January I started the 2nd part of the treatment which is reconstruction of my jaw through braces and retainers. I currently have a wire on my top teeth that is slowly expanding my mouth. And I'm wearing a retainer on the lower teeth until I get a wire there as well. Eventually I will have braces on all my teeth but right now I only have two on my upper teeth to hold the wire in place. The dentist is moving slow because it is very painful and hard to eat with teeth constantly moving, because of the wire expanding my mouth, which makes my teeth very soar and tender. But it has gotten easier and I've slowly been feeling better.
With the expansion of my mouth though, I've still been having headaches off and on. So I started to experiment with the foods I eat. I knew caffeine was adding to my headaches, so I haven't been drinking coffee for several months now, but after reading a book about healthy foods and harmful foods, I realized that chocolate can have just as much caffeine as a cup of coffee can. I knew chocolate had caffeine, I just didn't realize how much. So I went off chocolate, and immediately my body reacted- for the good! The last of my headaches went away within a day! I honestly couldn't believe how much my body reacted to going off chocolate. I told my doctor's and they had said that I probably have an allergy to chocolate by the way my body was so happy to be without it:-). So it's been about 4 weeks now that I've been off chocolate AND all caffeine products and I've been feeling great! There's still some pain from the jaw joints that I've consistently have had throughout the last year, which will go away as the dentist corrects my jaw; but as for my headaches, I finally figured out the last thing that was contributing to my headaches and it's been great to be without them now!
So there's my update. Hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend!
4 comments:
You sure look great Briell and you look like you are feeling better!! So happy about that!!
I'm glad you figured out what was affecting your headaches but sorry that you had to give up your chocolate. What's a girl without it?! I understand your headaches. My TMJ is brought on by chewing too much gum. Hope you can get everything corrected without too much pain.
Praise God for relief from your headaches. That is great news!
I hope that your dentist has a great understanding of the TMJ and Centric Relation. Its the healthiest place to seat your jaw, a repeatable reference point that I think must be used when performing orthognathic surgeries. The final position of your teeth has to be in the Neutral zone, this is the place in 3 dimensions that your teeth can be where the forces of your tongue, cheeks, lips, and teeth are all in balance. If your jaw surgery allows you to "bite" in Maximum Intercuspation with your TMJ in centric relation AND your teeth are set in the neutral zone...you should be happy for life! There will be little chance for your teeth to relapse or go out of alignment after these conditions are verified. I wish you continued success and hope this information helps and/or reassures you and your dentist. from a fellow dentist(ABGD certified) and internet citizen.
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