Dental and TMJ help

Hi everyone. This is probably the most vulnerable thing I’ve ever done in my life but I feel as if I have exhausted all options and this is what it has boiled down to.

In 2022, I was diagnosed with TMJ + a bite disorder. It was the worst pain I have ever experienced hands down so I needed to figure out why. I was told by a TMJ specialist that I would have to wear an oral orthotic 24/7 to correct me into biting in the right spot when eating. So now here I am 2.5 years later, and now I have more dental work needed than I could’ve ever fathomed. The TMJ specialist actually told me I would need all of my teeth removed and tried to blame me for the reason this is happening. Safe to say I never went back to him.

Not only did this “oral orthotic” not correct my bite, I developed an acid reflux buildup which left my lower set of teeth enamel deteriorating away, to which I needed to seek other dental help as I was in constant severe pain at this point.

I found a truly life changing dentist in March who has been truly amazing in helping me fix my teeth to look normal again. 

However, despite his dentistry being thorough, I still need to figure out a plan to permanently correct my bite so I don’t have to wear this mouth piece 24/7, which will involve me finding a TMJ specialist to discuss either surgery, or other options. 

As we all know health insurance doesn’t provide much help. It’s been very hard trying to pay my dentist while keeping up with the normal life costs that have increased as we all know. To set me back even further, in May I tore two ligaments in my right foot which was a costly time with the office visits, x-rays, etc. It has not been an easy year to say the least.

Currently, my balance is $2,031 for the fillings I had to get, but this doesn’t include the crowns I will need to get soon to protect my teeth from further damage. 

If you made it this far, thank you so much for listening.