Approximately 35 million people in the US suffer from TMJ. However, very few know what they think is just TMJ, can really be a rare life changing disease. I am a 25 year old female and after an oral surgeon saw my x-rays I was told that I have the jaw of an 80 year old that has been chewing on...

Approximately 35 million people in the US suffer from TMJ. However, very few know what they think is just TMJ, can really be a rare life changing disease. I am a 25 year old female and after an oral surgeon saw my x-rays I was told that I have the jaw of an 80 year old that has been chewing on rocks. I do not just have TMJ my jaw bones have been eaten away.

I have had severe changes to not only my jaw, my bite, and my face, but to my life due to Internal Condylar Resorption. This is a rare disease that requires an even more rare surgery of total jaw joint replacement with prosthetics.

In 2006, I woke up with my jaw locked shut. Over the next few years my bite began to change to the point where I was no longer able to close my mouth. I am only able to touch on my back molars. After seeing numerous doctors and surgeons I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Condylar Resorption which has left me in unimaginable pain, has deformed my face, made breathing difficult, and I have to struggle to keep weight on ( due to my jaw bones having been eaten away). I am seeing Dr. Larry Wolford, one of the foremost expert on the condition, and will have to undergo numerous surgeries totaling over $150,000.

Worst of all, I have found many women that are going through the same struggle. Many of whom believed for years it was just TMJ. If this disease is caught in its early stages, such invasive life altering surgery is not required.
Many surgeons, doctors, and even other people with ICR disagree with my surgery, but there is so little information out there for us to go on we just do not know what to do.

Please do a show on this terrible disease that is silently affecting many young women. ICR is a pathological, noninflammatory, hormonally-mediated condition primarily affecting TMJs in teenage females (9:1 ratio females to males), usually initiated when they enter their pubertal growth phase. Doctors now think it could even be linked to birth control which is taken by millions of women.

There are so many of us out there with questions and probably thousands more that are being led to believe they just a severe case of TMJ. This show would help many people, spread awareness, prevent misdiagnosis of TMJ disorders, and hopefully answer some questions for myself.

Would like to see Dr. Dorffman answer the question regarding silver filngs and merury ; is it safe or not. Would also like to see a question and answer segment for Dr. Dorffman. He is well like and does beautiful work.

Would like to see Dr. Dorffman answer the question regarding silver filngs and merury ; is it safe or not. Would also like to see a question and answer segment for Dr. Dorffman. He is well like and does beautiful work.

I am a registered dental hygienist who has done many things with my career, including teaching in my profession. I now work very part-time in different offices and am often appalled to see what some dentists and hygienists are passing off as a dental cleaning and/or exam. There are different t...

I am a registered dental hygienist who has done many things with my career, including teaching in my profession. I now work very part-time in different offices and am often appalled to see what some dentists and hygienists are passing off as a dental cleaning and/or exam. There are different types of dental cleanings, based on your needs and the condition of your gums. There are very specific ways to check for gum disease, and often this is either skipped or just a few spots are checked. I have even seen hygienists just recopy what the last hygienist found, because she did not have time to do a thorough periodontal exam. This is not entirely her fault. Often she is not given enough time to do the exam, x-rays, scaling/polishing, oral hygiene instructions, checking for cavities, doing a head and neck exam, waiting for the dentist, and cleaning up the room--not to mention recordkeeping. So how do you know if you end up with a good cleaning? Is it a good cleaning when it really hurts, or is the hygienist just being rough? Maybe you like a very gentle hygienist. How do you know if she is doing a good job? Does the hygienist really need to use that machine that sprays water around and vibrates, or is hand scaling enough? How do you know if the hygienist is really cleaning under your gums, or is she just taking off the tartar and stain above the gumline resulting in a superficial, cosmetic-only type cleaning? Is a dental cleaning cosmetic, or is it therapeutic? Does the dentist know if the hygienist is doing a thorough dental cleaning? Does your dentist really need to know all the medications you are on? Dental disease is being linked to a lot of health problems, including heart attacks, strokes, pre-term/low-birth-weight babies, kidney, respiratory, and pancreatic problems. Vote for this topic, and find out what you really need to know about the dental care you receive!

What is the best treatment for TMJ? Surgery or mouth guards? My daughter finished her undergraduate degree in 4 years with a double major and a minor and is currently in medical school. Our dentist said that TMJ is responsible for her headaches and ther eis a problem with the alignment of h...

What is the best treatment for TMJ? Surgery or mouth guards? My daughter finished her undergraduate degree in 4 years with a double major and a minor and is currently in medical school. Our dentist said that TMJ is responsible for her headaches and ther eis a problem with the alignment of her back teeth. Is that a result of TMJ. While in 12th grade she had her braces removed and her teeth were fine.

The reasons a child sucks their thumb. The effects on their dental development and ways to get them to stop.

The reasons a child sucks their thumb. The effects on their dental development and ways to get them to stop.

Hello, my name is Melissa C*, I am writing the events that lead up to my being on life support August 2007. On 8/14/07 I had an appointment with Todd A* to have 3 uncovered root canals removed. One of which he just did a few months before. This was all part of his plan to renew my teeth. I sig...

Hello, my name is Melissa C*, I am writing the events that lead up to my being on life support August 2007. On 8/14/07 I had an appointment with Todd A* to have 3 uncovered root canals removed. One of which he just did a few months before. This was all part of his plan to renew my teeth. I signed in, the dental assistant called me back, put me in the chair and we waited for the dentist to come in and numb me. He left the room and came back, asks me if I was numb and started to pull my teeth. He never ask me any thing about the constant coughing I was having he just would stop for a minute then continue. At one point one of the teeth fell down my throat and I guess he thought I was just coughing again, after he saw I was chocking the dental assistant looked down my throat, saw the tooth and suctioned it out. It seemed to be a long time, as they were laughing and it took a while to get their attention. I still can’t understand why they did not use a dental dam on me to protect me. They put gauze in my mouth and sent me on my way. The day before I went to see my internist DR W*, who had treated me for bronchitis about 3 weeks before, he did a chest exam and said I was clearing up well and did not need any more antibiotics, although I still had some what of a cough. He gave me one pain pill for my dentist appointment, which was pre approved by Todd A*.
After I left the office my boyfriend Gary F* drove me back home from Norcross GA to St.Simons Island where we had recently moved. I slept most of the way, and went to bed as soon as we got home. The next day I did not feel well, we went to lunch and I had Gary bring me home and then went to bed again. Gary asked me how I was and I told him I just wanted to take a nap. He wanted to go sit on the beach for a while so he got me to bed and said if I need anything to call him. He was only gone for maybe 15 minutes, when I called him crying, my whole body was shaking, and I felt so sick. I can’t remember what time it was but he finely talked me into going to the hospital. When we got to the hospital they said it would be at least a 4 hour wait, there was no way I could even sit up, much less for 4 hours. The nurse told us that most of the people there had the flu and that was probley what I had. So we left and stopped to get some Theraflu. I took it and went back to bed. About 2 or 3 am I crawled to the bathroom vomiting every where uncontrollable bowel movements and was laying in the floor very weak. Gary woke up, found me cleaned me up and rushed me back to the hospital. They wanted to put me on life support, I fought them, I did not want to go on life support as I have never seen anyone come off life support and I did not want to send my children through that trauma of making the choice to take me off and have to watch me die. I felt like I was going to die. After hours of asking for the form to sign to not go on life support the Dr. called my boyfriend and got his permission to put me on life support, I was drugged and was too weak to fight any more. So around 5 or 6 pm that night they put me on life support.Unfortunatly I remember almost everything. It has been 7 months now and I have still not regained my health. Every day is a challenge. I had septic, repertory failure, and streptococcus pneumonia (s pneumo), Due to the bacteria of the tooth going into my lungs as I was tiring to chock it up. If you need any more information please let me know.
Thank You, Melissa C*
Update: It has been 2 years now and I am still not feeling right.
My e mail is: deansmith7777@yahoo.com My phone # is ***-***-****