anyone had jaw surgery???

[Dirtymike]

I don't know how bad it is. I been being treated for ear infections. Then thought it was a cracked tooth. Had the tooth fixed kept getting "ear infections". It felt like ear infection went into my jaw and neck. Went ENT and he said TMJ adults don't get infections often and my ears are fine. Diagnosed me with tmj and been reading up on it. Does not look like anyone thing really works well for everyone. Told me to relax my jaw....... Not sure how to do that.

[Deer Tracks]

I started having trouble with pain, jaw locking, and clicking sounds in high school.
Finally went to an oral surgeon in college and he told me to wear a splint at night and prescribed anti anxiety meds, muscle relaxers, and Celebrex.
10 years later I ended up in the office of a specialist and he ordered an mri. He said the MRI was the only way to really see what was going on with the jaw, joints, and discs.
From the MRI he could see the discs were completely displaced and surgery to repair them was the only option.
He put the discs back in place and everything works much better now. I'd say 70-80% improvement.
Splint therapy will help but if you keep having symptoms, see someone that specializes in TMJ.
The first surgeon I saw didn't want to do surgery, said it wouldn't help. But he never ordered the detailed MRI either.

[Dirtymike]

Thank you for info. The doc acted as if " it's just tmj, relax your jaw, chew on the other side, here is your hand out on it, pay up front on the way out"

[Deer Tracks]

anyone had jaw surgery???

If your disks aren't completely displaced, splint therapy will help a lot. All that about chewing differently and reducing stress is b.s. You should be able to chew normally, pain free. I would find an oral surgeon that is well versed in TMJ and he will probably refer you to a dentist or orthodontist that can build a well fitting functional splint. The splint puts your joints in a resting position, relieving tension and inflammation. Don't do what I did...take one doctor's opinion and let things deteriorate to the point that surgery was the only option.
Dr. Gallegher in Austin and
Dr. Warner in Ft. Worth are considered to be among the top oral surgeons for TMJ in TX.

[schmalzy]

OP,

I had the same problem and had the surgery as a teenager. It wasn't too bad. Can't eat much for a little bit but I'd say it's definitely worth it.

[nacohunter]

A cousin had it done and he is a dentist himself. He said it was pretty tough. I have 4 wisdom teeth plus one cut out last year. Was ok after 3 days but not great.