sepultura
New Member
Hi. Firstly this is my third post in a short period of time so I apologise for that but I need to tell my full story in one place.
2020: under immense stress. Had a severe panic attack and vertigo and ended up in accident and emergency. They suggested a panic attack and I did not buy it.
Following this I went into detective mode to try and find out what was wrong with me. I bought blue light glasses, a cervical neck brace, acupuncture Matt, supplements and more and more.
The worst thing I bought was a mouth guard to sleep in as a I read somewhere it could have been down to clenching my teeth. I wore this for 3 months and it changed how my upper and lower teeth fitted together. I gave myself an open bite. Only my back teeth touched. It was so uncomfortable and gave me tinnitus and jaw pain and muscle tension.
I took on the narrative that this was the source of all my problems - even though i was already looking for what was wrong before this. I went to so many dentists. Became an obsessive googler. And basically my life drastically changed. I became anxious and depressed. And was put on antidepressants for the first time of my life. Somehwere in this I discovered tms work and listened to every podcast. It brought me hope. However I still wanted to close my bite.
No dentist knew what to do with me. I paid loads of money for splints and appointments. I had a dentist grind my back teeth down to try and close the bite. Nothing really helped. I needed the bite closed. I ended up doing Invisalign in 2022. It mostly closed my bite though my bite was still open along the sides.
My TMJ symptoms went away. - strangely at this time I developed around 6 months of arm pain coming from a pinched nerve in the neck. It could be seen that the plastic in between my teeth got my thoughts away from my bite and the arm pain also being a distraction. The arm pain resolved by itself after months (it was 9/10 pain). And I got my Invisalign off.
I was cured. I believed. Over two years. Got married. Became a daddy. Life has been beautiful. I never was on forums or dealing with any chronic issues. I had basically left the tms world behind me.
I was at the dentist about 5 weeks ago. He commented on how my teeth don’t really come together all that well. I said I was comfortable but he offered to grind some more teeth down to improve contact. I let him.
BIG MISTAKE.
The next day I woke up in fight or flight. And it hasn’t really eased. I’ve had that old jaw/ear pain surfacing. But it has died down last few days. Anxiety induced insomnia. Depression. I am back on anti depressants.
I feel like my life is over and I don’t know why. I’m not really in pain. I’m just hyper focused on how my teeth make contact. I’m constantly checking my bite together and in the mirror.
I am constantly googling. I’ve been to a new orthodontist who said the bite doesn’t need to be perfect. So now I think I’ll struggle to find an ortho to take me on and try and properly close the bite. And if that is even what I need. Probably not.
The bite I had before had less contact that it has now. Maybe the suited me. I never was thinking about it or checking it. Now it’s all I’m doing and it’s frankly ruining my life.
2020: under immense stress. Had a severe panic attack and vertigo and ended up in accident and emergency. They suggested a panic attack and I did not buy it.
Following this I went into detective mode to try and find out what was wrong with me. I bought blue light glasses, a cervical neck brace, acupuncture Matt, supplements and more and more.
The worst thing I bought was a mouth guard to sleep in as a I read somewhere it could have been down to clenching my teeth. I wore this for 3 months and it changed how my upper and lower teeth fitted together. I gave myself an open bite. Only my back teeth touched. It was so uncomfortable and gave me tinnitus and jaw pain and muscle tension.
I took on the narrative that this was the source of all my problems - even though i was already looking for what was wrong before this. I went to so many dentists. Became an obsessive googler. And basically my life drastically changed. I became anxious and depressed. And was put on antidepressants for the first time of my life. Somehwere in this I discovered tms work and listened to every podcast. It brought me hope. However I still wanted to close my bite.
No dentist knew what to do with me. I paid loads of money for splints and appointments. I had a dentist grind my back teeth down to try and close the bite. Nothing really helped. I needed the bite closed. I ended up doing Invisalign in 2022. It mostly closed my bite though my bite was still open along the sides.
My TMJ symptoms went away. - strangely at this time I developed around 6 months of arm pain coming from a pinched nerve in the neck. It could be seen that the plastic in between my teeth got my thoughts away from my bite and the arm pain also being a distraction. The arm pain resolved by itself after months (it was 9/10 pain). And I got my Invisalign off.
I was cured. I believed. Over two years. Got married. Became a daddy. Life has been beautiful. I never was on forums or dealing with any chronic issues. I had basically left the tms world behind me.
I was at the dentist about 5 weeks ago. He commented on how my teeth don’t really come together all that well. I said I was comfortable but he offered to grind some more teeth down to improve contact. I let him.
BIG MISTAKE.
The next day I woke up in fight or flight. And it hasn’t really eased. I’ve had that old jaw/ear pain surfacing. But it has died down last few days. Anxiety induced insomnia. Depression. I am back on anti depressants.
I feel like my life is over and I don’t know why. I’m not really in pain. I’m just hyper focused on how my teeth make contact. I’m constantly checking my bite together and in the mirror.
I am constantly googling. I’ve been to a new orthodontist who said the bite doesn’t need to be perfect. So now I think I’ll struggle to find an ortho to take me on and try and properly close the bite. And if that is even what I need. Probably not.
The bite I had before had less contact that it has now. Maybe the suited me. I never was thinking about it or checking it. Now it’s all I’m doing and it’s frankly ruining my life.
