For some great before and after images and more information on FJO benefits, please see Dr Page’s informative website www.SmilePage.com, or read his book Your Jaws Your Life.
dental case studies and info coming soon…
Dr Dan Hanson (founder of DentalBraces.Com.Au) has had TMJ dysfunction treatment at age 32. He is now having orthopaedic and orthodontic treatment to have his jaws moved into the correct position to help maintain his new bite position.
You can follow his story below:
Dan’s TMD diary:
18/08/2010:
Bed 9pm, asleep 10pm, toilet to urinate twice – 3 am and 6 am
Woke with mild pain right side of head and back of neck and was clenching teeth together
Felt not refreshed on waking, but got better after finally getting out of bed.
19/08/2010:
Bed 9:30pm, asleep 10:30pm, toilet to urinate 11:45pm and numbness and tingling in left arm
Back asleep immediately after getting rid of numbness
Woke 3 am to urinate – and numb right hand and fingers – back asleep quickly
Woke 6 am to urinate – couldn’t get back to sleep
Out of bed 7 am – extremely tired
Ringing in left ear around 7:20 am
20/08/2010:
Bed 10 pm
Woke 4:45 am to urinate
Back to sleep after 20 minutes, then in and out of sleep multiple times until had to get up for work at 6:30 am
No pain but felt very tired
21/08/2010:
Bed 9 pm – woke to urinate 4 am
No pains
Some slight noises from left tmj on waking and right tmj clicking more than usual
Very tired on waking
22/08/2010:
Same as yesterday but less tired
23/08/2010:
Woke twice to urinate at 3 am and 5 am
No pain but tired
24/08/2010:
Same as last night
25/08/2010:
Stressful day in work today
Had ringing in ears just before bed
No pain but woke at 3 am to urinate
Tired – again!
All of these symptoms are quite typical of somebody who has TMJ dysfunction. In my case I had a clicking jaw joint which means each time I swallowed (or brought my teeth together), my joint dislocated.
This jaw problem was found (using neurological tests) to be the origin of my pains (eg): in my head and neck.
My sleep was disturbed because I was in constant pain – PAIN AFFECTS SLEEP. In addition, although I didn’t go for a sleep test I probably had a problem with breathing during sleep – my wife often noticed me gasping for air during sleep – I AM NOT OVERWEIGHT, I EAT HEALTHILY, AND I EXERCISE REGULARLY – ANYONE CAN HAVE SLEEP APNOEA!
IN SHORT: The symptoms arise due to impingement of nerves that happens when muscles are put under too much stress (eg): due to posturing one’s head and neck to help keep one’s airway open, or due to posturing to avoid pain from an injured area. The full mechanism of why we get all these symptoms is complex and takes many hours of study to fully understand.
BASICALLY, DYSFUNCTION LEADS TO PAIN. PAIN LEADS TO MORE PAIN. PAIN AFFECTS SLEEP. POOR SLEEP AFFECTS HEALING AND LEADS TO MORE PAIN. AIRWAY BLOCKAGES CAUSE DYSFUNCTION AND SO LEADS TO EVEN MORE PAIN…… IT’S LIKE THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IS ON FIRE, BUT MORE AND MORE PETROL IS BEING ADDED TO THE FIRE ALL THE TIME.
SEE MY PICTURES BELOW: (to be added soon)
NB: All cases are not the same, this is just my story.
1. Initial: Lower jaw closes too much so that my joint dislocates every time I bite teeth together. The crease under my lower lip is an indication that I don’t swallow properly – I have a reverse swallow / hyperactive lower lip. Also I was born with “generalised microdontia” meaning all my teeth are unusually small – so I have gaps between my front upper teeth. This makes my orthodontic treatment later more complex than most cases.
Insert photos of before here…..
2. During phase 1 (wearing orthotics to stop me closing too much) – this brought the position of my lower jaw more down and forwards to where it should always have been. This took 12 weeks.
* Slept amazingly on my first night of sleep with night orthotic – I can’t remember ever feeling this alive on waking – I woke up and immediately jumped out of bed and went for a run before work. I also felt more alert in work and was able to run faster. This was probably due to sleeping better since my nervous system was “less on fire” and my narrow airway was opened up by the orthotic.
*Found it hard to eat and speak for the first week or so but felt this was a reasonable trade-off for feeling so good
Insert photos of orthotic inserted here
3. (Phase 2) – I elected not to wean from my orthotics – most people wean off the day orthotic and don’t need phase 2.
Had upper jaw expanded to allow my upper jaw and teeth to meet properly with my lower jaw and teeth in their new ideal positions. I used a Biobloc then a Bent Wire System and a trainer appliance for my upper jaw. I had white filling material on my lower first molars to keep my TMJ in the right position while I did this. This made my upper jaw wider and helped to correct the reverse swallow pattern that I had. It also helped me to nose breathe more. The reverse swallow and the mouth breathing are the likely causes of my problem in the first place. The reverse swallow pushed my lower jaw back every time I swallowed and the mouth breathing meant that my tongue wasn’t in my palate enough while I was growing – so my upper jaw wasn’t big enough or forward enough.
Insert photos of upper jaw expanded with build ups on lower molars here (to be taken)
4. Had fixed braces placed to move my upper teeth forwards – I may not have needed to do this if I didn’t have the problem with small teeth. The jaw treatments alone may have been enough.
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