[rbh1963]

Hello everyone. I apologize for the long post.

I am trying to figure out what is going on with me. I went in to the dentist about a month ago to clean my teeth. I hadn't been in several years and quite a bit of plaque build-up was on the inside of my teeth, particularly the bottom front teeth.

I would say the procedure took about an hour with my jaw being open most of that time. They also had to use what I would equate to a "jackhammer" to remove the plaque from my bottom teeth.

I didn't experience any pain after leaving, but the next day noticed that my right ear had a "spasm" occuring from somewhere inside. It would spasm once or twice...wait 30 seconds or so and spasm some more and would eventually go away after about 3-5 hours.

The next day I scheduled an appointment with a ENT doctor and he said my ears looked fine. He put me on some anti-inflammatory steroids and told me to come back in 2 weeks. During the 2 week period the spasms would still occur at various times and sometimes would go a day without doing it at all. He had me meet with an audiologist when I came back and my hearing tested fine. I did bring up to the audiologist about my dental visit and he thought it might be related, the ENT however seemed doubtful and gave me some inner ear vitamins to take and told me to come back in a month (which I still have scheduled later this month).

About a week after that visit I started to notice a dull ache in my jaw area, particularly around the lower jaw/ear hinge location. I called the dentist and was asked to come in. I asked him if he thought my symptoms may have been caused by the cleaning when I came in about 3 weeks earlier and he said he didn't think so (maybe to cover himself?). He at that time mentioned that he could get me in touch with a TMJ specialist but said the pain in my jaw could be heart related and recommended I get a physical.

I went and got a complete physical yesterday and my doctor said my symptoms were more than likely caused by the dental visit. He pressed around my jaw area and said I might have a mild case of TMJ. I told him my main concern was the length of time from the dental visit and still having some jaw aches. The ear spasm had gone away for about 3 days and I thought I was getting better. This morning the ear spasms started again for a brief time and woke me up. I've noticed that I can at this point almost start them by yawning or hiccuping hard.

I feel like I'm losing my mind.....do you guys think this is probably TMJ related? Thanks for any responses.

[Bryanna]

Hi rbh,

It sounds to me like you are having TMJ issues that could undoubtedly have been brought on or exacerbated by your dental visit. You may have already had some TMJ issues that you were unaware of and the long visit simply put fuel on the fire.

Several things here.......

One is your jaw was hinged opened for a long time.

Two the hygienist was putting alot of pressure on your lower jaw for a long period of time.

Three you were probably nervous / anxious and had tension in your jaw joint and muscles to begin with.

Add those issues together and bingo......... TMJ pain!

It sounds like your muscles were beginning to relax and then you may have been grinding or clenching your teeth when you were sleeping and the spasms returned. It is common to clench or grind when you have TMJ inflammation because the teeth don't come together exactly right and we tend to knaw on them which irritates the TMJ joint and ligaments. So the spasms will come and go because the muscles and ligaments are not able to fully relax.

I would suggest that you ask your dentist to make you a nightguard and wear it faithfully. The sooner you relax those muscles the less complicated and chronic your TMJ issues will be.

A couple of non conventional things that may also help......
Meditate daily by sitting quietly for several minutes and deliberately relax your body one muscle group at a time.
A homeopathic remedy that reduces inflammation of the head and neck is Arnica Montana.

I hope this information is helpful to you........ please let us know how you are doing!

Bryanna ~'.'~

Originally Posted by rbh1963

Hello everyone. I apologize for the long post.

I am trying to figure out what is going on with me. I went in to the dentist about a month ago to clean my teeth. I hadn't been in several years and quite a bit of plaque build-up was on the inside of my teeth, particularly the bottom front teeth.

I would say the procedure took about an hour with my jaw being open most of that time. They also had to use what I would equate to a "jackhammer" to remove the plaque from my bottom teeth.

I didn't experience any pain after leaving, but the next day noticed that my right ear had a "spasm" occuring from somewhere inside. It would spasm once or twice...wait 30 seconds or so and spasm some more and would eventually go away after about 3-5 hours.

The next day I scheduled an appointment with a ENT doctor and he said my ears looked fine. He put me on some anti-inflammatory steroids and told me to come back in 2 weeks. During the 2 week period the spasms would still occur at various times and sometimes would go a day without doing it at all. He had me meet with an audiologist when I came back and my hearing tested fine. I did bring up to the audiologist about my dental visit and he thought it might be related, the ENT however seemed doubtful and gave me some inner ear vitamins to take and told me to come back in a month (which I still have scheduled later this month).

About a week after that visit I started to notice a dull ache in my jaw area, particularly around the lower jaw/ear hinge location. I called the dentist and was asked to come in. I asked him if he thought my symptoms may have been caused by the cleaning when I came in about 3 weeks earlier and he said he didn't think so (maybe to cover himself?). He at that time mentioned that he could get me in touch with a TMJ specialist but said the pain in my jaw could be heart related and recommended I get a physical.

I went and got a complete physical yesterday and my doctor said my symptoms were more than likely caused by the dental visit. He pressed around my jaw area and said I might have a mild case of TMJ. I told him my main concern was the length of time from the dental visit and still having some jaw aches. The ear spasm had gone away for about 3 days and I thought I was getting better. This morning the ear spasms started again for a brief time and woke me up. I've noticed that I can at this point almost start them by yawning or hiccuping hard.

I feel like I'm losing my mind.....do you guys think this is probably TMJ related? Thanks for any responses.

[painfree]

Some of these symtoms may be the result of Myofascial Trigger Points in the muscles of the neck especially the Sternocleidomastoid, Temporalis muscles, masseter and Zygomaticotemporal (branch of trigeminal nerve) can be entrapped ny the temporalis muscle.
Read the below link and review. Some of these can be self treated. There are many ways to treat trigger points in the muscles. The most important treatment is a home stretch program.

Head and Neck Pain
http://www.round-earth.com/HeadPainIntro.html

Especially read about the Sternocleidomastoid muscle at:

http://www.round-earth.com/SCM.html

also Nerve and Vessel Entrapments by Muscles: Zygomaticotemporal (branch of trigeminal nerve) can be entrapped ny the temporalis muscle.
http://www.round-earth.com/Entrapment.html