Dislocated jaw-cartilage out of place/doubled over-splint

[Elleng]

My OS said I have a dislocated jaw (on one side) and that my cartilage is out of place and doubled over like a taco shell. He has me in a removable splint right now. I have had jaw pain for 6 months now. My range to open my mouth is around 30 mm. Normal is 48-52mm. It was as low as 17mm. OS expects that i will need surgery and says that i will be going to Dallas for it because there is no one in St. Louis qualified to do it. My right joint is also about 4mm smaller than my left. Anyone else with info on this? Thanks

[cvn]

That's gotta hurt like hell. Something like that happened to my mother and she was in agony. Hers was a side effect of having an unbalanced bite. She had surgery to fix that cartilage and ligament that blew out and then was in a splint and braces until she had a lefort and bsso.

There is an excellent dentist up in Springfield, il that we used who made me some great splints that really helped me and mom. As far as surgeons go, there is one who is in Chicago who is great and might be closer for you. I can get you names if you'd like.

[Elleng]

Why did she have to have the lefort and bsso? Didn't the first surgery to fix the cartilage work? I am so new to this and had to actually look up what a lefort and bsso were. Any doctor's names that you can give me would be helpful.

[cvn]

Well it depends on the case I'm sure, but I'm going to assume that jaw cartilage and joints don't typically just dislocate without an underlying reason behind it(not including accidents or whatever). A good portion of the time, this reason is mechanical - an balance puts an unusual stress on the joint and over time, the joint won't tolerate it. So yes, she had all the stuff in her joints stuffed back where they were supposed to go, but to eliminate the cause, she had to correct the extra stress so as to avoid an eventual relapse. The reason a splint helps is that it repositions your jaw joint and takes off these stresses.

You're going to want to pinpoint why this happened to you and take measures to prevent it from happening again. Your os should be able to answer this for you and if he can't, then it's time for a second opinion.

[Tribal]

Sometimes a proper splint is enough to get the disc back to where it needs to be, although if yours is folded in half it might not work. But even if the disc can settle back into the correct position the mechanical issues that caused it still need to be fixed. Try to find a TMJ disorder specialist in your area (or nearby), they would be the best to work with this and find a permanent solution. There is also a book called 'Taking Control of TMJ' by Robert Uppgard - try to pick this up, you might need to order it online.

[ropuszen]

I am getting surgery on Dec 28th, 2009. I have been contemplating braces and surgery for 7 years now and decided just to go for it...I'm not getting any younger! Dr Larry Wolford is the nations best orthonathic doctor. He teaches at Baylor and has a patent on his procedure. Check out his bio at
www.tambcd.edu/oralsurgery/faculty/wolford/wolford.html
He is not on insurance so I have to file out-of-network. He teams up with the best orthodontist in the area too, Dr. Goerge Adams in Plano. With these two doctors, I am confident I will receive the best treatment and care.
Hope this helps

Robin O

[Elleng]

I am finding out from my doc the same thing-people who post on this site have had major issues, the successes don't care. He hasn't had anyone have to do repeat surgeries (he doesn't do them, he sends them to Wolford in Dallas) because he continues to work with you until he finds the cause. That makes me feel much better, but still am frustrated with my jaw. I've never had anything like this before-only a couple of minor surgeries and certainly wasn't expecting anything like this to happen.

Ropuszen - please keep me posted on how things go for you.