TMJ

Now back to the second half of why I believe that dental and medical should be combined.

I have TMJ. It basically means that my jaw is out of place. This affects you in lots of different ways. It puts pressure on your neck and spine. It causes headaches. According to a number of web sites it can even cause the same symptoms as fibromyalgia. And, of course, it can cause jaw pain.

Why do I have it? There are actually a number of reasons. For one, I seem to be the walking medical encyclopedia. *lol* Secondly, I've had a few instances of whiplash, especially when I fell off my bike and cracked my skull open. Humpty Dumpty anyone? I also have a bad overbite. Lastly I suffer from bruxism. That is the fancy way to say I clench and grind my teeth when I sleep.

Okay so TMJ is a problem with the jaw that can obviously cause some serious health issues in the long run... But who treats it? Typically not the medical field. They may give you pain medication but otherwise won't do anything. They just refer you to a dentist for treatment.

Here's the problem for that. The dentist will likely refer you to a specialist for treatment. So that's more money. Often times the treatment of TMJ is not covered by the insurance company so you are left to pay for the treatment alone. Right now I need a nightguard to protect my teeth so I don't cause any more damage. To replace the one I have will cost me about $300. And I can't get it until the dentist finishes the cavities.... so it will be September at the earliest. On top of that the treatments tend to be expensive... for correcting the bite. It ranges from nothing other then the nightguard to partial reconstruction, to full reconstruction and then surgery. Needless to say that would be extremely expensive.

The problem is that it's something I need to happen. I go to the chiropractor every other week but there is only so much she can do for me. And since my insurance company only covers $500 and the year begins in August all year I have been paying for my chiropractor visits. So that's cost me $350 so far and I still have two months to go. I remember the days when OHIP paid part of the chiropractor visit... and physical therapy. That was nice.

When it comes to treating the TMJ I feel like I am damned if I do and damned if I don't. I can't afford to treat it so if I started something then I would likely have to stop treatment pretty quickly due to finances. But if I don't get treatment for it then the jaw pain and the clenching are just going to continue.