Not Happy with Results After my Braces Have Been Removed (10/6/15 Removal & Now 10/12/15) - Colorado Springs, CO

It has been 9m since my braces were removed. Two months after removal I was having limited opening that was reduced to one finger (but would increase mid day to 3 finger), I had the severe jaw popping & then around Thanksgiving in 2015 my right side seemed like it would get stuck & not pop causing the left side ear pain. After a week of pain it went away. I was scared of my jaw completely locking, so I turned to the inet for help. I went on Facebook Tmj chats which was depressing & wish now I never did. I had people advising me to certain treatments bc they said I needed to recapture my disc is why I had the popping. I also had people show me their collection of splints (I'm talking some had over 10- which doctors charge any where from $500-3000 for, so 10 of those or even 3 at $2000 is a lot to trial & error + you have pay for records at each doctors office & most likely braces after a splint). So I decided to trust a person that said I needed a repositioning splint that was raised to fix my joints, that I needed to do it right away bc the longer I waited the worse/harder it would be to fix my problem. So I saw a few doctors in my state, 4 doctors I saw recommend all different splints- on a clench you where @ night, my ortho wanted me to wear what looked like a football mouthguard, 2 others wanted to do hard acrylic splints 24/7- but one said upper is better & the other said lower. I just wanted to put braces back bc I felt since I wasn't good w/wear my rubber bands maybe my bite was the issue, but all the doctors said braces/rubber bands weren't the issue & I needed to do a splint 1st to help my jaw joints. I went to 2 other doctors & they had similar treatments- a repositioning splint & braces after, they were close in price expect 1 was a dentist & other an ortho. So I chose the ortho bc he had more tmd reviews & experience w/braces! The repositioning splint was a mistake, never did I think it would cause me to clench more & damage to my teeth & gums, plus it pushed my jaw joints too far forward out. The doctor in Denver Dr. Lauson, did not check the splint at all & it was his ortho assistant that did all the work & answer all my questions. They never wanted to check the splint or acknowledge there was something wrong with it,bc after the 1st day I had pain, a week or 2 into it I had more/worse symptoms. It was damaging my gums too, so I tried to leave it out one night which caused me pain so bad I was in the ER the next day. I was scared to stop the treatment bc of what happened so I left the splint the in & the assistant kept telling me it's going to get worse before better (for 3 months she told me that). Finally after me complaining about how bad things were & bc of stop payment, they decided to stop treatment & they said it wasn't working bc they said I had anxiety (makes me wonder if I was still paying how long they would've dragged treatment out). Within that 3 months I was having bad jaw pain, teeth pain, ear pain, tinnitus, headaches, nausea, I was having gum stinging, bad gum recession where the splint was sitting & damage to my teeth from the splint bc it put a lot of pressure on them & pushed them down I to the bone (also the doctor today one appt wiggled & pressed hard on my lower front tooth causing it to pop- now that tooth is ruined). So they left me w all this damage & an open posterior bite that no other orthodontist has really ever seen. I saw another doctor that tried to help me by putting acrylic on my lower 1st molars bc only my front teeth touched tip to tip after the splint & it was causing damage to those teeth. The acrylic helped those teeth not touch. Except I didn't know it was going to put more pressure on those teeth. I then saw another orthodontist for a new splint, this time they decided to do an upper. Which they never saw a bite like mine & messed the splint up so it caused more pressure on all my lower teeth including the front, so I couldn't wear it. The doctor also sanded the acrylic off those molars but instead of using the dental overhead light sanded it in normal daylight, admitting they were having a hard time seeing the acrylic bc they were light pink. They ended up sanding my tooth too low so now I hit on one tooth. Then to cover themselves said oh we didn't sanded that tooth down bc our tool doesn't sand enamel. Right I think I know what my tooth felt like & the height of it before!! So now I'm hitting on one tooth, I have an open bite so I clench hard even for the now 3 hours I sleep, I can't eat (for almost 9 months I have been eating soft foods, now even pasta & eggs hurt to eat), I don't get good sleep so I fall asleep driving or at work now, my face was damaged by the Damon braces by making it uneven & worse w the splint- it elongated my face. I can't close my lips all the way bc of the damage, I have constant daily pain all over my head & mouth now w headaches, on top of not being g able to eat or sleep. I can no longer have a social life or care for my 2 young kids, I have a lot of debt know from all of this. I've had to go through so much torture to try & save my health, joints & teeth. Now I'm losing all 3, I'm losing my teeth all from braces!!! I had completely healthy teeth, gums, life before braces- I was 29 & only ever had 2 cavities ever, never missed a 6m cleaning or had any teeth or health issues. I used to be very active, healthy & happy. Now I can't exercise or lift things bc of the tmd, I can't eat healthy, my hair is falling out bc of this, I don't get sleep & I'm losing my teeth + jaw function bc it was made worse by all these treatments!! I'm losing my kids bc I can't take care if them bc of all the damage that has happened. What's even worse is no one really cares & every doctor says braces can't cause TMD or none of this stuff I experienced is from bad treatments bc the National Institute of dental health or the Mayo clinic did research that says braces can't cause TMD- I think it's BS, bc I developed tmd from braces. But they want to say I had a pre-existing condition. No I think I would know if something was wrong w my own body before braces! I believe they said that for their research bc if they said braces cause TMD expecially in adults than there goes all the money doctors make! Do you think adults would take a risk knowing they could get something that is life altering or that causes severe health problems! Dental procedures (like braces, crowns, wisdom teeth removals can cause you to have tmd even if you have straight teeth or not or a car accident or accident to face - but the dental community doesn't want to admit that. Most people that get tmd from braces had teeth removed, but I feel if teeth weren't removed than you got tmd from a negligent doctor! That is truth!

I just had my braces removed on 10/6/15. The day of my removal I told my orthodontist that I noticed jaw popping that was happening more (which I didn't really pay attention to or notice before - I'm a full time single mother of twins, work full time and go to school part so I wasn't focusing on my mouth to say). Before braces I never had an issue with TMJ/popping and came in because I was unhappy with crowding/crooked teeth. He asked when I wore my rubber bands & I told him I would wear them at night. He then said that the popping would go away, didn't check my jaw and started to remove the brackets. After he removed the brackets I went to get impressions & pictures done. When I finally got a chance to look in the mirror I noticed 2 upper teeth that were sticking out & when I smiled they hang over the lip. The orthodontist had already left for the day and the assistant said to bring it up when I pick up the retainer. I originally came in for crowding and had a raised tooth (this is one of the teeth that still hang & now it's the one next to it too). I was only in braces for 13 m & quoted 18 m for total treatment. I saw the orthodontist 4 days before the removal & his assistant brought up that I had a scheduled removal at the end of Nov. It was scheduled because when I saw him in Sept he said it would be another 2 months before they would be removed & see him in Oct for a follow up (which I did). But back in August he said they were ready to come off in Sept. ( but I canceled that removal due to my work scheduled & made a follow up instead. I would have trust him that the teeth were all straight and everything was good. I'm upset because I feel the ortho should have caught this before the braces were removed. He won't fix it and not saying I need a night guard b/c I have TMJ and that I'm being too critical on my teeth. He then said "you can't be in braces forever". Now that I'm in the retainer I feel the popping is getting worse, I feel like my jaw pulls slightly to the left, I started having what sounds like very soft fireworks in my right ear (most notice it when I lay down) my lips don't meet all the way when together & when I take the retainer off to eat my front lower tooth hits the upper. I just want to know if this is right or should the doctor fix this? Was I out of braces too soon? They told me to take Ibuprofen daily and that I would need to get/buy a night guard from them. I just spent $4988 for the braces and feel like this should happen- that I have to spend extra money to fix another issue (when in for straight teeth & came out with something else). I feel like they should care that I'm not happy with my smile and I feel they don't. Please help with advice- am I wrong & this is a normal thing after braces or should they have fixed this?