I am suffering from TMJ
disorder. What the heck is TMJ you may well ask?
You can look it up on the net if you are interested, but the long and short of it is that I have not been able to have a decent meal in almost a week. Add to the fact that I am plying myself with muscle relaxants and pain killers, and it makes me wonder what other damage I am doing to myself.
The pain in my mouth started suddenly one afternoon and accelerated faster than a Formula 1 car. So, that evening in absolute desperation I took an appointment with an unknown dentist in a clinic below my house. As soon as I entered his clinic, his bonhomie and big talk set off warning signals. He immediately, without even touching me, asked me to get an x-ray, and then started on a litany of potential problems that I could be suffering from.
After the x-ray, in my pained stupor he stretched me out on the dentist's chair, and probed for two minutes inside my mouth with an instrument, which felt like a needle but which he stated was as blunt as a bludgeon. By the time he finished I had almost blacked out from the pain. He asked me to get up and while I was staggering up he proclaimed that I had severe periodontal disease. He put up my x-ray and started to point to (what seemed to me) half of the teeth in my mouth as potential candidates for extraction. He flourished a chart in front of my nose, reeling off statistics as to why he would have to cut my gums open under anesthesia, to deep cleanse them.
Before I could even gather my wits around me, he started to list a choice variety of ailments like cancer, heart disease, mad cow disease, joint problems, etc. that I could potentially suffer from, due to this.
Now comes the interesting part!
Here I am staggering around in his little office, reeling from the pain, one palm cupped over my jaw and he starts talking about the treatment. It seemed that I would have to spend a lot of time in the next few years under his expert care. And the only thing going through my mind was - what about today? While he is ranting on about everything that is wrong with my gums, my teeth, my genetics and my life – I am thinking "what are you doing to alleviate the pain NOW?"
Having satisfied himself that the import of his dire predictions and their impact on my health had sunk into me, he launched into his menu of services and costs. Even in my fevered state, the little accountant in me started ringing the mental cash register. And as the totals started to mount, the pain started to recede into the background. By the time he had finished I was looking at starting a new mortgage. By now the alarm bells were ringing stridently in my head, and I was desperately trying to think of a way to get out.
In my desperation I started to tell him that I wanted to start the treatment but not that very day - but he did not let me finish. As soon as he heard half of that statement he turned to his Philipino assistant and told her to get the anesthetic ready to put me under. I imagined waking up from the procedure without any teeth in my mouth. I imagined myself with dentures, having to eat through a straw for the rest of my life. I wanted my wife, I wanted my mother – no I wanted to run! But he had me mesmerized and totally hapless. At that moment I understood what a goat would feel like, when he looks into the butcher’s eyes while he is sharpening his knives.
Even through the pain, my mind was working desperately, but every excuse I could think of seemed weak. I started with a couple, but he just brushed them away. He had me in his grasp and he was not about to let me go without doing something. I remember mumbling something about an important presentation the next morning and wanting to be at my mental sharpest, and he started to probe me about it – what was it about, what time, where? He knew it was an excuse and he wanted to catch me out.
Anyway just when I thought the game was up, I somehow managed to convince him that I 'would' return the next evening to start the treatment, and escaped with only a small hole in my pocket, a prescription for antibiotics in my hand, and all my teeth and gums intact. As I walked out of the clinic I realised that I wanted - no needed - another opinion!
Anyway to cut this long-winded ramble short, I called and went to the clinic of a close friend who is a Dentist. After a bit of gentle probing inside my mouth and a lot of questions, he diagnosed me with TMJ disorder, which as I forgot to mention above is Temporomandibular Joint disorder or in layman’s terms - a severe facial muscle spasm!
You can look it up on the net if you are interested, but the long and short of it is that I have not been able to have a decent meal in almost a week. Add to the fact that I am plying myself with muscle relaxants and pain killers, and it makes me wonder what other damage I am doing to myself.
The pain in my mouth started suddenly one afternoon and accelerated faster than a Formula 1 car. So, that evening in absolute desperation I took an appointment with an unknown dentist in a clinic below my house. As soon as I entered his clinic, his bonhomie and big talk set off warning signals. He immediately, without even touching me, asked me to get an x-ray, and then started on a litany of potential problems that I could be suffering from.
After the x-ray, in my pained stupor he stretched me out on the dentist's chair, and probed for two minutes inside my mouth with an instrument, which felt like a needle but which he stated was as blunt as a bludgeon. By the time he finished I had almost blacked out from the pain. He asked me to get up and while I was staggering up he proclaimed that I had severe periodontal disease. He put up my x-ray and started to point to (what seemed to me) half of the teeth in my mouth as potential candidates for extraction. He flourished a chart in front of my nose, reeling off statistics as to why he would have to cut my gums open under anesthesia, to deep cleanse them.
Before I could even gather my wits around me, he started to list a choice variety of ailments like cancer, heart disease, mad cow disease, joint problems, etc. that I could potentially suffer from, due to this.
Now comes the interesting part!
Here I am staggering around in his little office, reeling from the pain, one palm cupped over my jaw and he starts talking about the treatment. It seemed that I would have to spend a lot of time in the next few years under his expert care. And the only thing going through my mind was - what about today? While he is ranting on about everything that is wrong with my gums, my teeth, my genetics and my life – I am thinking "what are you doing to alleviate the pain NOW?"
Having satisfied himself that the import of his dire predictions and their impact on my health had sunk into me, he launched into his menu of services and costs. Even in my fevered state, the little accountant in me started ringing the mental cash register. And as the totals started to mount, the pain started to recede into the background. By the time he had finished I was looking at starting a new mortgage. By now the alarm bells were ringing stridently in my head, and I was desperately trying to think of a way to get out.
In my desperation I started to tell him that I wanted to start the treatment but not that very day - but he did not let me finish. As soon as he heard half of that statement he turned to his Philipino assistant and told her to get the anesthetic ready to put me under. I imagined waking up from the procedure without any teeth in my mouth. I imagined myself with dentures, having to eat through a straw for the rest of my life. I wanted my wife, I wanted my mother – no I wanted to run! But he had me mesmerized and totally hapless. At that moment I understood what a goat would feel like, when he looks into the butcher’s eyes while he is sharpening his knives.
Even through the pain, my mind was working desperately, but every excuse I could think of seemed weak. I started with a couple, but he just brushed them away. He had me in his grasp and he was not about to let me go without doing something. I remember mumbling something about an important presentation the next morning and wanting to be at my mental sharpest, and he started to probe me about it – what was it about, what time, where? He knew it was an excuse and he wanted to catch me out.
Anyway just when I thought the game was up, I somehow managed to convince him that I 'would' return the next evening to start the treatment, and escaped with only a small hole in my pocket, a prescription for antibiotics in my hand, and all my teeth and gums intact. As I walked out of the clinic I realised that I wanted - no needed - another opinion!
Anyway to cut this long-winded ramble short, I called and went to the clinic of a close friend who is a Dentist. After a bit of gentle probing inside my mouth and a lot of questions, he diagnosed me with TMJ disorder, which as I forgot to mention above is Temporomandibular Joint disorder or in layman’s terms - a severe facial muscle spasm!
1 comment:
You literally managed to escape by the skin of your teeth!!
I had to sell a kidney to get my wife's wisdom tooth extracted.
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