everybody: beware careless TMJ diagnosis


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Posted by gary g (208.133.217.98) on August 19, 1999 at 14:17:10:

In Reply to: Help! Trigeminal Neuralgia posted by Sherry H on August 19, 1999 at 13:01:07:

no one's brought this up for many months, so good to have it on the table again

there is a "trend" the last several years among many dentists/oral surgeons to blame everything under the sun on TMJ (can't remember exact words - means a jaw misalignment, tempero-mandibular joint or somesuch)

I asked my dentist about it once, to get real info (he's on faculty at Tufts, used to be at Harvard, etc) - said there is a problem in some people but actually only in about 1 in 10 of the cases CLAIMED by some dentists/oral surg. who can get a lot of good $$$$ out of it

I see it as the same thing that they used to do with hysterectomies - only a tiny fraction ACTUALLY were accurate diagnosis of problem or required procedure, but "HEY grab the knife & the fee & keep on truckin'"

so - if you have severe recurring pain of a CH, migraine or vaguely related nature, and get told it's TMJ and a "simple" surgery will fix it - get at least 1 2nd opinion from a neurologist before you get cut !




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