Couldn't Be Happier with my Beautiful Pain-free Smile! - Houston, TX
For years, I suffered from excruciating painful...
I was immediately impressed upon walking into the office. It feels much more like a spa than going to the dentist. The staff are incredibly pleasant and accommodating. After Dr Hedge measured my bite with special equipment, he recommended a fixed orthotic splint. I then met with his wife, Dr Frazar about doing a full mouth restoration. I trusted them both instantly and knew I was in expert hands!
I wore the splint for about two months and 85-90 percent of my tmd symptoms disappeared. I yawned for the first time in years! (I didn't have the range of motion to open my mouth that wide prior). Once my bite was at a comfortable position, they applied temporaries and a few weeks later, applied the porcelain veneers. Dr. Frazar did the most amazing job on my smile! She is truly an artist with a great aesthetic eye! She listened to all of my concerns and she gave me exactly what I wanted with great results. She was able to widen my smile to fit my face, but the best part is I am now pain-free!
My fiancé, who was terrified of dentists due to a traumatic experience, is actually getting his porcelains done tomorrow! Dr. Frazar's impeccable bedside manner made him feel comfortable right away and get over his fear of the dentist chair.
The office feels like a relaxing luxury hotel, the staff are welcoming & extremely attentive, & Dr. Frazar & Dr. Hedge are the dynamic duo of the dentistry world!
Jessica1116's provider
Replies (9)
Why not orthodontics?
I had metal braces for 3 years as a teenager & it was a miserable experience so I really wasn't open to trying braces again. I did look into Invisalign to correct my bite, but I read so much about people who said it made their tmj issues worse that I didn't want to risk it. I was in a car accident at the age of 16 & had severe whiplash which I believe that trauma exacerbated my bite issues. I also wasn't open to the tmj surgery due to it's low success rate.
The fixed orthotic splint that I had was made out of the same material that they use to make the temporaries. It's basically plastic. It can also be done in a removable form but the fixed is a faster route and I know myself and I know I would take it out to eat and not put it back in & wear it as much as I should, so I went with the fixed. In my case, my bite was at about 80/20. The 20 percent side being my extremely painful right side where all of my jaw issues were. First, they tensed me which is electric stimulation (it feels weird at first, but then like a massage!) & this relaxed all of my jaw muscles, then they take a bite scan to see where my bite should ideally be. I'm not sure of exact measurements, but my bite needed to be opened up. Dr Hedge applied the plastic (which became my 'splint') to my bottom teeth only. Since the splint is the color of teeth, it just looks like teeth and no one noticed it the entire time I had it, unless I pointed it out. I will look for a picture! It did feel strange and awkward in the beginning, but my jaw stopped cracking right away so I knew I was on the right track. Before it sounded like a gunshot in my head, every single time my mouth moved. I did feel some soreness from the orthotic but the discomfort from it was so much less than my tmj pain that I would've lived in that splint forever.
I had always been interested in getting veneers so the cosmetic benefit for me was just the icing on the cake. Sure, my smile looks way better, but the fact that I can now talk, eat, chew, yawn, kiss like a normal human has improved my quality of life tenfold. Seriously my only regret is suffering for so long & not doing this any sooner. What I really love about my dentists is you get two experts working together as a team. I think of him as the mechanic and she's the artist. He does all the bite adjustments and she does the cosmetic & together they do such a phenomenal job. I'm a different woman now because I'm not living in chronic pain so I've never felt better, thanks to them!
Also, I wanted to add that the goal was to get my bite to hit as close to 50/50 as possible. Once I was near there, that is when we moved onto phase 2 (the veneers)
Replies (4)
Also, could you explain what an orthotic splint is? A picture would be even better. :)
Thanks again!