Confused about NTI, and need serious professional opinion.
- From: "Tim Dean" <tpdean@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 11:24:26 -0500
I've been suffering from daily headaches since mid-June of this year. They
started the day after I received a routine checkup/cleaning from my usual
dentist. The headaches are usually centered around the temples, are always
one-sided (90% of them are left-sided), and sometimes are accompanied with
jaw pain and earaches. When I open my jaw, the opening is definately
limited, but I never hear the jaw pop. My neck feels stiff and has a
limited range of motion. I'm also having severe bouts of insomnia, anxiety,
and depression that are accompanying these headaches since it's gone on for
so long now.
I've been to various doctors/specialists this summer (had normal CAT scan
and MRI), trying to get these headaches figured out and resolved. They seem
to be muscular in nature.
I consulted an orthodontist in mid-August (suspecting these problems may be
TMJ related), who took a panoramic X-Ray of my jaw, and he said that he saw
a lot of wear on the jaw joint that would indicate a TMJ problem. However,
he wasn't in the business of treating any TMJ patients himself, so I went
out looking for a dentist or orthodontist who did.
I found a dentist that was recommended to me by a family member, and treats
TMJ patients. He performed an examination on me (but didn't take any
X-Rays), and determined that my problem was more muscular in nature
(supposedly from jaw-clenching), and he fit me with an NTI-TSS device to
wear at night on September 6th. After the initial fitting and wearing the
device for the first night, I found that I could easily dislodge the device
with my tongue, so I returned to him on the 8th and he refit the device more
snugly on my top teeth.
I've been wearing the device every night since the 8th (12 nights total). I
haven't really experienced what I would call a significant reduction in my
headaches yet. I have, however, been having some pains in my left jaw on
some mornings after wearing the device. This morning, the dentist's
receptionist phoned me and asked how I was doing with the device. I told
them that I hadn't experienced a reduction in my headaches yet, and have
been having jaw pain. She reported that to the dentist, and I received
another call a short while later and was told that I needed to go see a more
"traditional" TMJ specialist for an examination since I was still having so
many problems with headaches after 12 nights.
This had left me really confused, and I am trying to determine what to do
next. I really need to get to the bottom of these headaches, as they are
having a huge impact on my quality of life in almost every aspect (family,
work, leisure, etc.)
I have a few specific questions:
1) Should I be experiencing relief from the daily headaches by now with the
NTI, or do I need to give it more time? If so, how much more?
2) Can a dentist/orthodontist actually diagnose a TMJ problem just by
looking at panoramic X-Rays? I've heard statements that both support and
negate this as a method for diagnosis.
Can anyone give me some good solid advice on where to go from here?
.
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