Re: new to TMJ.. my story, and some questions

sir, thank you very much for your insightful response. I have been much more conscious of my grinding during times of stress. i'm also a horrid nail/skin chewer, as well as a hair puller outer, so its not like i don't have alternative ways of relieving tension ;)

right now, when i feel myself going into 'clench' mode, i completely relax my jaw... it protrudes forward, which i don't know whether its a good thing or not. but the muscles relax... listening to music also helps, as it causes me to stop thinking/analyzing so much.

NTI sounds like a nice simple therapy, and since you and your dentist consider one's motivations for clenching in the therapy, i can trust you're coming from the right perspective (as opposed to someone that might want to take the hacksaw to my jaw ;)

for more info, please refer to the post i made to bob's response... one thing i can also add is that my upper eyeteeth(?) are completely shaven down, so as to be be the same level as all the others... my bottom eyeteeth not so much... but there really is no teeth keeping my jaw from sliding forward or backwards. Tweet