I'm a little bit obsessive/compulsive. Dean laughs when I say I'm only a little bit O/C. Whatever, I'm not that bad. One thing I'm weird about is teeth and oral hygiene in general. Bad teeth or bad breath drives me nuts. I brush and floss 5 times a day. I always have dental floss somewhere on my person. That information will help explain the anxiety that follows.
Most of you already know that I broke one of my upper molars. That sucker cracked right in half. I made an appointment to see my dentist to get it fixed. Because our schedules are all over the place, the soonest appointment I could get was March 19th. That seemed like a long wait but since I didn't really have pain in that tooth, I figured it was no biggie.
Then a funny thing happened, I started getting pain in other teeth. Many years ago, I had a root canal in a bottom molar. All of the sudden that tooth started hurting. That seemed really odd because it had no roots. Then other teeth started hurting and I felt like they were cracking too. My gums were aching and I thought that I developed a cavity. It was a nightmare. I took a flashlight and started looking at them. I made Dean look at them. From what I saw, half of them looked like they had cracks. I was getting really freaked out. I was feeling pain in my jaw, my ears were hurting and all could think was abcess. Dean told me to call the dentist. He also told me to relax because my teeth didn't look the way I thought they did. I kept saying that it was infected because the pain was getting really bad. I kept asking if my breath seemed bad. I was so sure I had an infection, I couldn't relax. I couldn't eat because I was afraid to chew. I called the dentist and saw her yesterday.
I just knew I was infected and that half of my teeth were ruined. The pain in my face was horrible and my jaw was swollen.
The dentist took many x-rays. One went around my whole head. Then a full set of bitewings. I was waiting to hear how much damage I had done with all that ice chewing. When she returned, she was smiling. Smiling because a cash cow was sitting in her chair. My mind was just spinning. Then I actually heard what she said, the only tooth that needed work was the broken one and I did not have any infection.
I was flabbergasted. How could that be?
I told her that I was in pain and that pain isn't just "in my head". She agreed. She took a little hammer thingie and started smacking all of my teeth. She whacked one after the other. With each smack I would jump and she'd ask the same question over and over. Pain or startled? I answered "startled" everytime. I was not imagining the pain, it was definitely real. What the hell is causing all that pain if not my teeth?
Stress.
Stress caused a very painful but treatable condition. I have a TMJ disorder. I have been grinding my teeth while sleeping. From what the dentist saw, she thinks I have been doing it for many months. People that are under a lot of stress tend to get this disorder. I need to relax and I just can't seem to do it. That explains a lot. My jaw aches, it feels like it was over tightened.
Treatment is pretty easy. I have to wear a mouth guard when sleeping. I have to take a muscle relaxant before bed. For the next few weeks, I can only eat soft food and I cannot open my mouth larger than half an inch. No yelling, laughing or anything that involves opening my mouth more than a teeny-tiny bit.
I'm relieved that I will only lose the one tooth. Next month, for my 36th birthday, the QOAE will receive her first Crown. :-)
Ahh, TMJ, I know it well. My rear teeth are practically worn to nubs from it. Earned me two beautiful new crowns in the rear...
Evil triumphs again!
Rosemary, I am sorry for your pain, truly. But, Dean, I'm even sorrier for you. Only a half inch wide. You poor man.
Donnie,
Why am I not surprised you would have thought of that?
First thing Dean said to me was, "so I guess blow jobs are out"...
Men.
Oh evil one...
My wife suffers from the same thing, and yes it's stress-induced.
Women need to learn how to relax is my conclusion, but then again, maybe men need to learn how to be more serious?
In any case, the good news is that after wearing the mouth appliance, and altering the diet, and LEARNING HOW TO RELAX, she is much better, and I'm sure you will be too!
Lonestar,
How did your wife learn to relax?
My boss had to do that. What's bad is they kinda feed off each other: stress causes grinding, grinding causes more stress, and so on, and so on.
As for breath, Breath Remedy by Dentek (sp?) really works well.
Oh yeah, and for the OCD? Paxil CR works wonders! :)
Yep sounds like the problems my wife has. She stresses out over everything. Even when she has nothing to stress out over, she stresses out over having nothing to stress out over.
Without her mouth guard she'll be in pain. Stay away from chewie foods as well.
Massage therapy by a trained AMTA massage therapist. There are muscles in the neck and jaw the that support the TMJ. Get a massage therapist that can do hyoid and pterygoid work in the neck and inside the mouth. It is painful at first, but the front of the neck is part of the back of the neck (I'm not trying to be over simplified, but sometimes it helps for me.) and they all tie together in one big knot in that pain you feel at your ear and jaw.
I used to treat accident folks as a nurse massage therapist with chronic pain with TMJ, (among other things) and massage was always part of their therpy. You can do it yourself once you learn where the muscles are and how to apply the pressure.
Other muscles to learn sternocleidomastoid, orbicularis oculli, levators, zygomatic major and minor--all the muscles of the face, neck and head and inside your mouth. There are a bunch and when one clamps down; they all contract. It's awfully painful.
The AMTA has a website for referrals.
I know it's mean and you can dish it back to me, but did the men ever think that Rose is the one that needs the good attention in the sex department? (I am not presuming anything here about Dean, of course.) :-]
I just had my first root canal and crown done. The bad tooth was my second premolar (third one from the back assuming you had you wisdom teeth removed) on the top. The pain was excruciating all along the row of teeth up there. I couldn't tell if the bad tooth was the molars or the premolars. Furthermore, the pain went down to my second molar on the bottom! I could have sworn I was losing my teeth on the whole left side of my mouth.
My dentist described this phenomena as "sympathy pain". She claimed that one bad tooth can cause other teeth to experience pain. Via x-rays, she identified the offending tooth and performed a root canal on it. I've heard the term "sympathy pain" before but I can only say there is nothing worse than actually experiencing it. I've found a website which describes it. See the section titled "Referred pain".
http://www.doctorspiller.com/understanding_pain.htm
I have no idea how people survived without dentists. I probably would have committed suicide from the pain. hehe. Isn't middle age great? Stuff starts falling apart all over the place, eyes start going, hair starts growing everywhere. What a deal. When it's all said and done though, mid life beats the alternative.
I went to see a dentist a year ago to have a small cavity in a front tooth filled. He took X-rays and said all four of my molars were impacted and wanted to remove them. The funny thing is I never had a problem with them, but the teeth in the middle had been aching for years. After the molars were gone the pain went away, so it must've been sympathy pain. Weirdest damn thing, tho.
Rosemary:
Stress reduction- I have had good luck with meditation and sitting Qi Gong exercises. Massage is also a good choice. As always, there are many paths to take, some may be better than others. Hunt around, try different things (shotgun approach).
I note that YOU are the one that needs stress relief. May I suggest that Dean should be giving oral pleasure to you?
I'm 29 and I've had three root canals. It took a dentist until the third one to figure out that I am a tooth-grinder. Don't ever take a vacation from your mouthpiece. Wear it EVERY night. The sensitivity will eventually subside as you wear your mouth guard for a while.
Also, to reiterate what a previous commenter noted, do not chew gum or taffy or anything else that requires jaw muscles. Chewing strengthens your jaw muscles, which then are strong enough to cause even more damage.
It's not a bad way to relieve stress, though (tooth grinding). You could choose far worse methods.