Eowyn,

Sounds like you had a Rapid expander (roof of mouth) and maybe a Herbst appliance (lower jaw and TMJ). We tried those with my daughter. They did not help. Eventually, she had orthognathic jaw surgery. It worked fabulously. The orthodontist who oversaw the surgery said the Rapid expander and Herbst appliance had proven to be a waste of time as the TMJ will not permanently move or reposition with the Herbst appliance and the roof of the mouth will always return to its original place.

I had a Physical Therapist use myofacial release to properly position my TMJ. After a few treatments, it settled in nicely. The myofacial release paralyzes the TMJ muscle so she can then put the TMJ in correct position. The gabapentin I take helped with the jaw clinching at night so I did not undo the work she (PT) did.