Phase I: Splint Therapy

October 8, 2013  I received my splint from Dr R.  All the research online has told me that there is no general consensus on the best splint type.  Mine was a hard splint for the upper teeth. It looks almost the same as the night guard I've been wearing for the last 5 years (for the night grinding) except it is longer/thicker in the front and overlaps my bottom teeth. I was told to wear it 24/7, that I should only take it out to brush my teeth and that it was very important that I use it while eating.

The first 2 months of wearing the splint were just awful.  My headaches were worse, my jaw pain was completely horrible, and I couldn't eat solid food.  The first month I did not know how to talk with all the plastic in my mouth.  I lisped, I slurred, I could not pronounce the word "hypothesis"! I did not leave my house apart from going to class and studying; I was minimally functional. 

But thank goodness I was a PT student!  My wonderful classmates worked on some of my trigger points, applied ultrasound to my masseter muscles, and I had a steady supply of hot & cold packs to get me through the day. 

I saw the Orthodontist every 2 weeks for a splint adjustment.  The theory was the splint took my current teeth occlusion out of the question and would allow muscles to relax and my jaw to fall back into its "natural" position. By seeing him every 2 weeks, it allowed an adjustment of the splint to a more optimal position and permitted the facial muscles to release their tension.  Dr R told me that he anticipated needing to wear the splint for 6 months.

It was about December that I started working on chewing very soft foods. Until then it was all smoothies, mashed potatoes and oatmeal!  The most difficult aspect about chewing was the hard smooth surface of the splint that really just allowed me to just mash my food against a flat surface. Leafy greens were definitely out of the question!

But then when February began, I looked back and realized that I had not taken any pain medication in a month! No headaches for a month! It was an incredible realization! The splint therapy was helping!!!

24/7 I wore that splint, I do not think I've ever been more compliant with doctor's orders in my life, it was helping and I was going to soldier on, even looking (at least I thought so) ridiculous with a chunk of plastic in my teeth. Well 6 months came and went and my jaw was still resetting itself.  I ended up wearing that splint until July...10 months later... 

Possibly the only pic of me in my splint. And I think that al you can see is that my teeth don't touch because of the plastic between them.