Leesal,

Dentists are in the business of restoring teeth and offering esthetic smiles most of which is done without much if any thought to the physical or systemic health consequences caused by the dental work. So they treatment plan their patients from a tooth restorative perspective, not necessarily a healthy perspective. This is why in cases like yours you will most likely get similar restorative suggestions from different dentists because they all want to build up your teeth and your bite for better functionality. In the long run and as you have experienced twice already, the work does not hold up and the TMJ gets worse.

Those 5 teeth missing on the lower arch, does that include your wisdom teeth? Or are the wisdom teeth still present?

Dentists are either going to be reluctant to treat you because of all the complexities of your case, including all the surgical trauma and infection which puts their work in a higher risk for failure or they are going to want to do extensive heroic work to try and create a new bite. The TMJ issues need to be addressed as well as the dentistry because one needs to be stable just as much as the other.

Did you take a look at the TMJ website or have you looked into help for the TMJ problems? I have a feeling that you may think the TMJ is just tooth or bite related, it's not. Read the info on that site I gave you. It explains exactly what is involved in TMJ disorders. You may have to get some help for the TMJ first and then find a dentist to incorporate non invasive restorative dentistry into your TMJ therapy.

Some practitioners who deal with TMJ are physical therapists, chiropractors, and massage therapists.