Expert: Susan Tannenbam - 11/14/2007

Question
Susan,

I need some suggestions from someone else who has experienced TMJ.

I am so frustrated! It's been over 5 weeks I've been dealing with ear pain, loss of hearing, and acute tinnitus. Other than day one when I was in so much pain I was weeping, there has been no change in my perceived condition, though my doctor today says there's no fluid in my ears and no pressure on my ear drum and the tube he put in my ear last week is clean.

I have no problem opening my mouth. No jaw popping - I occasionally hear popping that seems to be coming from my ear, not my jaw. And yet the doctor says I have no fluid in my ear now.

I was so hoping the tinnitus would go away. I know most people have some tinnitus, but the sound of the tv or conversations does not drown out my tinnitus as it does for most people. My ENT doctor recommended I see a dentist. How could I expect a dentist to help?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for your availability through this site.

- Joy

Answer
Joy,
A dentist could tell if you have TMJ.  I did have difficulty finding a good dentist that treats a lot of TMJ.  If you live in the NY area, I can recommend someone very good.  I'm just making you aware of my experience, so you aren't surprised if you have to see several dentists before finding one that is god with TMJ.  Of course, you might find someone good right away.  You might want to contact a local dental school to see if they have a TMJ department.  My dentist is the head of the TMJ dept. at NYU Dental School.

The reason your doctor might have told you to see a dentist is that TMJ can cause ear pain as well as pain in the teeth, gums, head, neck, upper back.  The reason for this is that when we clench/grind our teeth at night (AND MOST people are not aware of this), it causes the muscles around the jaw to become tight, which in turn causes pain and this pain can "refer"  or "travel" into the different areas I mentioned.  This creates a problem with diagnoses, as the patient complains, say, of ear or tooth pain, and cannot find anything wrong with the ear or tooth - it's just, as I explained, the traveling of the pain from the tight muscles into other areas.   Many times dentist do not even understand this and they perform unnessary tooth extractions and/or root canals.  The pain can REALLY feel like it's in the tooth, ear, etc. but there's nothing wrong with the tooth, ear, etc.
Sorry for the repititions...hope this helps you. (just have to mention- I'm not sure about the tinnitus as I never had that symptom)
Susan