Hi,
Sorry if this is a double post. I just subscribed to both lists. Let me know if I really only need to be on one.
I was discouraged in high school when after braces, I started experiencing jaw pain and periodic (very painful) muscle cramps in my neck that either came from playing, chewing, or excessive yawning. It may be a coincidence that I started having these problems at the same time I got my braces off, I don't know. All I know is after the braces were removed, my range was shot, I had no endurance, and my embrasure moved way over to the left. I tried for a year and a half to regain the abilities that used to be effortless, but eventually gave up. That was over a decade ago. I still play, but only as a hobby. However lately, it seems to be getting worse. I can only play for about 15 minutes before I can't get above a middle C! I only recently started to think that maybe my impacted wisdom teeth might have something to do with my issues, so I started seeing a dentist. I'm surprised none of my teachers growing up ever suggested tooth issues as being the culprit. That aside, I was looking forward to doing something about it now that I had some idea of the cause. However, I've been frustrated with my dentist's apparent lack of knowledge. He doesn't seem to take the issue seriously and I feel like he's just taking shots in the dark while charging me a ton of money. He made me this mouth guard that cost $800 that he said I should be able to wear while I play so that I could rest my jaw against it and not have to hold my mouth open which would relieve the muscle fatigue. First, I couldn't align my teeth right to get the flat surface to rest the horn against, then he ground it flat so I could, but now my upper teeth don't even touch it. It seems useless. So I only wear it at night, although I need to have him fix it again because it feels like it's having me move my jaw to the left too far. Do you think that this thing is worth it? How long should I give wearing it at night a chance? When should I expect to feel results when playing?
Personally, I think the problem is not the muscles that hold my jaw open, but rather the muscles which stretch my lips over my teeth (i.e. horizontally as opposed to vertically involved muscles). I think that they're getting fatigued because I have a tooth in the back that's sticking out to the side. It's being gradually pushed by the sideways impacted wisdom tooth on the lower right side. I have another sideways impacted wisdom tooth on the top on the same side. However, I have pain/fatigue on both sides. The cramps occur only on the right however and only ever happen now-a-days from excessive yawning. The dentist was reluctant to remove the impacted teeth because they're sideways and he can't see any reason to mess with it at all. He says I don't have TMJ and he can't seem to figure out why I have fatigue/pain when I play.
I was very excited when I first thought that an extraction would allow me to play potentially the way I used to, but am now getting discouraged again thinking it can't be solved. Any advice?
Thanks, Rob
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