I have TMD. Which basically means that I have a problem with my jaw joints, and that I used to sleep with a splint between my teeth to keep myself from damaging them. That's not a joke -- I have two chips in a front tooth from grinding away in my sleep.
The awesome thing about this though is that they had to take a mold of my teeth to make a splint special for me. And even though making the mold to make mold wasn't fun (they put stuff in my mouth that made me feel like I was going to suffocate) it's awesome that they sent me home with the molds they used to make the splint.
How many people have molds of their teeth?
 |
| Everything together...upside down...oops... |
I am suddenly self conscious of how uneven my teeth are. Oh well.
 |
| Purple stuff |
In addition to the actual mold they had me bite on this line of purple stuff. I guess it was to figure out what my bite is.
 |
| Top and bottom mold |
File this post under weird and random stuff that I'm sharing because I don't have anything better to talk about. I actually got the splint and molds a few months ago, and although the doctor told me to keep using the splint I stopped. I'm also not using my muscle relaxant meds at night anymore. My TMD has improved to where I don't really need them anymore. Now I'm just hoping that it will stay improved, and that nothing will trigger a return of it.
Actually, it would be stress that would trigger a return (as has happened in the past), and it seems that my new coping mechanism is loss of appetite, instead of TMD. I'm honestly not sure which one I prefer. As you might imagine, appetite loss comes with its own set of problems.
And now I'm rambling. But I'll leave my ramblings on here. Because...just because.
2 comments:
When I was in high school, I worked part-time for a dentist. I had to learn how to cast those molds in plaster of paris. It's an interesting process and takes a few tries to learn how. The first mold that I successfully cast was of my own upper teeth and yes, I still do have that plaster of paris model in a box somewhere, LOL!
Learning how to make the mold would be neat! Though I might be afraid of putting the foaming stuff in the patients mouth initially, due to my memories of feeling like I was suffocating.
Post a Comment