“Surgeon recommended TMJ surgery ” Jaw pain, headaches, neck pain resolved by PNMD in weeks!

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Zailey suffered with jaw pain ever since she was a pre-teen. Orthodontist specialist determined that her TMJ was too damaged and referred her for consultation with Oral Maxillofacial surgeon who does a lot of TMJ surgeries. He did extensive tests. Then he recommended that she should have surgery for both TM Joints. Her parents were concerned about the many risks of TMJ surgery and decided to not follow that recommendation.

Zailey also had severe headaches as well as neck and shoulder pain. She was not able to look up or reach up without causing excruciating pain.

Zailey was feeling hopeless and felt that perhaps nothing can be done to actually correct her problems instead of managing them. Her parents sought Dr Raman for help with a very low level of expectation for improvement and yet if there is any hope of help, they wanted to look into it.

His clinical examination confirmed that she had jaw alignment “TMJ” problems and that is the likely root cause of her many symptoms even beyond the jaw.

Zailey went through detailed diagnostic tests including our unique "Raman CCMD Protocol" of Physiologic Neuro Muscular Dental (PNMD) procedure to determine the optimal jaw and neck alignment. Balance tests revealed that her postural compensations were primarily due to the jaw alignment. So that linked her jaw problem to whole body symptoms such as neck pain, shoulder pain and fatigue.

All the findings and options for treatment were reviewed during the consultation prior to starting phase 1 treatment. She was informed of her narrow upper jaw which limits the function of the lower jaw. It is like a narrow shoe would not allow the foot to come all the way forward. She was then fitted with a physiologic neuromuscular fixed orthotic on the lower jaw only for 90 days as a reversible phase 1 treatment. This is both a therapeutic and diagnostic step. Even though phase 1 fixed orthotic is only on the lower teeth, like teeth extensions to make up for the jaw alignment discrepancy, there needs to enough of an improvement of symptoms to give the patient confidence to go forward with treatment or to give up and reverse course. While that is a rare occurrence, we want to be sure that we don’t harm anyone by making permanent changes until there is symptom relief.

Zailey started noticing improvements gradually. This is one of the important reasons that we use a PNM Fixed orthotic. It is correcting the jaw alignment truly 24/7, every second of the day. Of course, the key is how accurately the jaw / neck alignment was diagnosed first. That is the alignment that the fixed orthotic maintains.

Within 7 weeks of Phase 1 PNM Fixed orthotic, all of her symptoms were improving significantly. Reviewed top symptoms and level of improvement 1. Jaw pain - 65%. 2. Headaches - 60%. 3. Neck pain - 35%. She also reported having a higher energy level upon waking up and lasting through the day - 70% improvement and better stability and balance - 50%.

Performed muscle palpations and recorded 16/44 painful points with a pain score of 53/132 vs 33/44 and 97/132 pre op. Checked cranio-cervical range of motion 90 degrees to the right and 90 degrees to the left vs 2 degrees to the right & left pre op.

Zailey had no doubt that she was on the right track to improve. Phase 1 proved that PNMD treatment was actually resolving her neck, jaw, and other symptoms, even though the upper arch was unchanged and narrow.

As a more economical option, they made the decision to move forward with Removable CAD / CAM tooth colored orthotic to replace the refined fixed orthotic. Neuromuscular Functional Orthopedics / Orthodontics (NFOO) as a phase 2 option could potentially have improved symptoms further. But she was OK with the CAD CAM option since the fixed orthotic did improve her debilitating symptoms.

Treatment options decisions are always made by patients after informed of all options and their consequences which includes the fees.