About Me

Hello to Friends, Family, and Strangers! My name is Bridget and I am currently undergoing a 3 year process to correct my dental malocclusion, which as it turns out is the root cause of my severe TMJD pain and chronic headaches. 

I was first told I had TMJD at 15yrs old and at around 20 yrs old (2001ish) I saw an orthodontist (who will remain nameless) that told me he could potentially correct the disc pathology in the TMJ, but that the surgery was only ~50% effective so I should wait until the pain became intolerable and only then he would operate.

Fast forward to 2011, living in a new state, with a new dentist, who strongly recommended that I revisit my TMJ problems with a new orthodontist (as there have been some medical advances in the last 10 years!)  The new orthodontist told me that I did not have to live with chronic pain and no it was not normal to have migraines that lasted for 2 weeks at a time, that someone my age should be able to chew harder food, and by-the-way my teeth do not align correctly.  So we agreed on a plan of conservative methods first and surgery as a last case scenario.  Unfortunately the conservative methods were not enough to correct my underlying malocclusion/asymmetries/etc and I am planning for surgery. 

The surgery will not correct the severe arthritis I now have in my TMJs, it will not fix the popping discs in my temporomandibular joints, nor will it grow back the enamel that I have already worn down on my molars, but it will prevent those from getting worse. It will prevent further risk of sleep apnea, it will relieve me of my chronic migraines, and it will allow me to not only continue eating solid food into my older age, but chew food I haven't been able to eat in years!

This has not been a quick process, but I have plenty of hope and firmly believe that the risks and trials of this process will be far out numbered by the benefit and improved quality of my days after all of this!