Dear Dr Stoll - I have been reading with great interest your site & am heartened by its words of wisdom. Finding the site comes at a time when I am most dispirited about a problem which has plagued me for many years. I have facial asymmetry and midline deviation which - after investigating with "experts" - is being exacerbated by my right mandibular condyle wearing away. An x-ray two years ago clearly showed a normal condyle on the left while the head of the right condyle appeared broken off with a jagged edge. I have seen many orthodontists, prosthodontists, maxillo-facial surgeons, TMJ experts, etc etc and for the past two years have been wearing a splint. This was said to arrest further bone deterioration & prevent bruxing and grinding in my sleep. But this week, a fresh x-ray has revealed the condyle has worn away to virtually nothing & I am terrified that my asymmetry is worsening as a result. An orthodontist and oral surgeon are recommending braces & jaw surgery - wherein the left mandible (my "healthy/normal side") would be cut & screwed together to "match" the right side. I am extremely perplexed - knowing that surgery is far from an exact science but distressed that, without some sort of intervention, I will be in terrible strife! Soon I am having a bone test to see what disease or condition is enabling the bone to disintegrate and have been told it may be a genetic deformity. Compounding the problem, I am suffering a migraine a week as well as assorted muscular stiffnesses in the head, neck, etc.
Have you heard of condyle deterioration?? Do you know of any cases successfully treated?? And if so, how?? I am yet to find another person with exactly the same problem as me even though many have asymmetry.
Yours in hope...
Follow Ups:
Re: jaw joint deterioration
Posted by Walt Stoll on January 18, 1999 at 10:27:58:
In Reply to: jaw joint deterioration posted by Suzanne on January 17, 1999 at 15:59:03:
Dear Suzanne,
Thanks for your kind words!
This is a desperate situation! Once things have progressed to this state, reconstructive surgery is likely your only option.
HOWEVER, having said that, even reconstructive surgery will not resolve this permanently UNLESS ou deal with why this happened to you in the first place. ALL of your symptoms and problems in this area are caused by severs "bracing" of the jaw muscles due to the storage of overwhelming stress-effect (fight or flight) in the hypothalamus. This is almost certainly NOT "migraine" since your muscular mechanism is perfectly capable of causing the headaches you describe. You can easily tell by doing the "hot arms" approach mentioned on the homepage.
This, and the solution to this cause, has been discussed on this BB for years and you can learn about it by going to the home page and the archives.
I would not do the surgery until I had at least started resolving the causes since the causes will simply break down the surgical repair.
If is not reasonable to expect that a surgica repair will be able to withstand the stresses in the area that broke down the normal anatomy of the area already. The normal anatomy would have been a LOT more resistant to this mechanism than any surgical repair.
Mother Nature still knows a LOT more than any surgeon.
Walt
Follow Ups:
Re: jaw joint deterioration
Posted by Nancy on January 18, 1999 at 22:43:07:
In Reply to: jaw joint deterioration posted by Suzanne on January 17, 1999 at 15:59:03:
Suzanne
I had a LaForte 1 osteotomy done in 1984 with excellent results. My assymetry probably was not as bad as yours, but I did have the deterioration in my left jaw joint. I wish I'd known about bracing and how to stop it back then. I really encourage you to start on the skilled relaxation immediately, and don't be afraid of the surgery. Oral surgeons are getting really good at those procedures, just be sure you have one with alot of experience.
Best of luck to you.
Follow Ups:
Re: jaw joint deterioration
Posted by Suzanne on January 19, 1999 at 01:08:17:
In Reply to: Re: jaw joint deterioration posted by Nancy on January 18, 1999 at 22:43:07:
Hi Nancy - thanks so much for your encouragement. I'll do some more reading & research on this site about bracing and skilled relaxation - am open to anything that allows the mind to triumph over the body!!
Could you please explain what a La Forte 1 osteotomy is? Although my condyle has worn away to virtually nothing, I'm unfamiliar with all the terminology & what could possibly be causing the disintegration. How did yours wear away? I'm still in my 20s and fearful of what the future holds if I don't educate myself about every option (surgical/dental/alternative medicine) available to me..
Thanks again for your support.
Follow Ups:
Re: jaw joint deterioration
Posted by Suzanne on January 19, 1999 at 01:35:53:
In Reply to: Re: jaw joint deterioration posted by Walt Stoll on January 18, 1999 at 10:27:58:
Dear Walt,
I greatly appreciate your advice & concern. I am fascinated by the role the hypothalamus has played in my condyle disintegration - where were you all those years ago when doctor after orthodontist after "expert" told me to "stop being so vain & just accept that your smile is crooked... no-one's perfect!" ??
I will follow-up with more reading of the BB archives. I have been experiencing what doctors have called migraine since age 11 & have been through the mill on that score too - every drug treatment so far devised & alternative therapies (macrobiotics, acupuncture, health retreats)... and funnily enough, you mentioned the "hot arms" approach. The one thing I crave when I am gripped by head pain is a boiling hot shower. I then retire with a cold pack on the head (vaso-constriction). The health retreat said to put a hot water bottle behind both knees & it proved reasonably effective. But next time I have the aura, the old arms will be plunged in the sink first...!
On the jaw surgery front, I'll take the time to do my homework - bone disintegration permitting. You're right: Mother (Nature) does know best.
Have you heard of my particular condyle problem before??
Once again, thankyou for taking the time to respond - it is both comforting & helpful.
Follow Ups:
Re: jaw joint deterioration
Posted by Walt Stoll on January 19, 1999 at 16:41:48:
In Reply to: Re: jaw joint deterioration posted by Suzanne on January 19, 1999 at 01:35:53:
Dear Suzanne,
The condylar disintegration is the end result of many years of TMJ. I have only seen one patient in which things had progressed to this point. Rebuilding these condyles would be like regrowing an arm.
However, your symptoms would be a lot less if you just did the skilled relaxation and tried to break the habit of letting your teeth touch all the time.
Hans Selye, MD was the only person in the world who knew the hypothalamic connection to all this 50 years ago.
NOW, there is no excuse for everyone to not know about it. Unfortunately there is more money in treating the symptoms than there is in teaching the person how to help her/himself. That is the only reason I have been able to come up with as to why you have not been told about this years ago.
Let us know how you do.
Walt
Re: jaw joint deterioration
Posted by Nancy on January 23, 1999 at 09:26:16:
In Reply to: Re: jaw joint deterioration posted by Suzanne on January 19, 1999 at 01:08:17:
Suzanne
I believe the LaForte 1 is the name of the particular procedure that was used on me, back in 1984. It had to do with the upper jaw being sliced horizontally and pushed up into the upper mandible. I also had vertical cuts between my second and third teeth on each side, so that my palate would be wider and more rounded. The result was a shorter and wider upper palate, a beautiful smile, less gum showing, and less pressure on those jaw joints. The negatives are that I have permanent numbness in my upper gums and wires still in place. Those things have not caused me any trouble to my knowledge, though. For all I know, the procedures may have vastly improved since I had it done. Check with your oral surgeon for more details. If you find that this is the procedure you need, I can scan a short article and send it to you via email, if you like.
I'm not familiar with the term condyle. I just know that on x-ray, my left jaw joint was flat, rather than rounded as it's suppossed to be. When I was a teenager, my jaw would pop whenver I chewed or even yawned, sometimes. I was told that the deterioration was caused from a misalignment of the jaws, which is hereditary. My sister had the same surgery. My father had the same misalignment, but because he's a big man with stronger muscles in his jaws, he did not suffer pain and the cosmetic issue did not concern him.
The reason I mentioned SR is because I believe that that takes care of the clinching/grinding that probably causes more of the pain that the actual misalignment does. I wore a night splint for that for a couple of years, but until I started studying Walt's BB, I didn't know how to permanently eliminate the clinching. None of my MD's ever told me about it. I also had dozens of "sinus infections" which were treated with antibiotics, which I now know were related to the jaw joint stressing caused by the bracing. Of course, the antibiotics led to leaky gut, candida, etc, which led to fibromyalgia, sugar cravings, bad diet, etc. You've got to address all of that to get well. I'm still working on it, but MUCH improved.
I hope you'll be able to ascertain what all will get you on the road to recovery!
Nancy
Follow Ups:
Re: jaw joint deterioration
Posted by Walt Stoll on January 24, 1999 at 10:38:11:
In Reply to: Re: jaw joint deterioration posted by Nancy on January 23, 1999 at 09:26:16:
Thanks, Nancy.
I appreciate yoru testimonial. More people will respond to a personal example than to anything I can say.
Isn't it interesting how all this stuff fits together?
A mark of the shortcomings of the conventional medical system is that you went through all this without knowing what a "condyle" was. This is one of those amazing things that is the fault of the system, not of the individual. I will bet that you would not do that today!
Namaste` Walt