"It was a revelation to me, such a positive experience"

I asked to be referred again to a consultant  after 10 years of chronic upper teeth pain .

I had been seen at the Dental Hospital initially  about eight years before, and had a head scan at another hospital and was always told that they could find nothing wrong , no infection, and to use sensitive toothpaste .

When I got my appointment within a few months this time , I noticed that I had been referred to the Maxillofacial  Unit in A.R.I .  and not the dental hospital as before . I felt a bit more optimistic this time as it was a different department . 

I met with Mr Mitchell . First of all he asked me to tell him about my experience and how the pain manifested itself and he also asked me how I felt about it all.

I explained my symptoms and how it affected my life as I was always suffering from poor sleep , had tried different painkillers etc but nothing made the pain go away. Obviously some days worse than others sometimes depending what I had been eating .I said I tried not to bite anything harder than a soft slice of bread with my front teeth too.

I really felt that he listened and he then examined my mouth and noticed that I jumped in pain when he pressed on my side jaw .

He told me that the pain was from bruised jaws , with me being stressed and tense and possibly clenching my jaw in my sleep , which always resulted in my waking up with aching teeth .

Everything he said to me made sense for the first time ever . Even though I thought I was helping by not biting on hard food , it was the chewing that was causing the pain and the jaws were the root of the problem.

I had thought my teeth were the problem and even had asked my previous dentist if I should have all them out , which he did not recommend at the time as he said the pain may still be there .

Anyway I was given some ideas to help with the pain and a way forward with my treatment . It was a revelation to me to be honest, and such a positive experience for me.

The way forward and things to help,

eg  heat from a hot water bottle to relax the jaw and then massage with my thumb.

listening to sleep meditation

A CT scan 

To speak to my dentist about lower part dentures to fill 2 wide gaps at each side and then have to help me chew better.

Botox

I had the CT scan within 2 weeks and then a telephone appointment with Mr Mitchell about the results a couple of weeks after .

He asked if any of his recommendations had been helping and I said indeed they had . The heat treatment especially  and being able to self help had improved my well being .

I told him that my appointment with him had been a revelation as I had just got used to not talking about it to anyone except my husband really and thought there were worse off folk than me . I did not want people asking me about it  too. 

 It was when I  mentioned to my daughter  that I was going to try a special ear piercing that seemed to help people with migraines  to see if it helped my teeth pain that she said ...

This has gone on too long ,. You need to see about it . It's your health , mum. . It made me take the step to ask to be referred again.

I am so glad I did .

I have nothing but good words to say about the Unit and Mr Mitchell and  the helpful staff there .

I already have 4 appointments for my lower dentures  to see if they he[p and then possibly botox as another treatment