Is my dentist too crazy to treat me?

schroedinger — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 10:46:45 -0800

I have pretty severe TMJ for my age (early 20s) that has been getting worse. My dentist seems competent (I think), but also kind of . . . kooky. Could other AskMefites, especially TMJ sufferers, weigh in on him and his methods? I have had TMJ since my mid-teens when my braces came off. No grinding or headaches, but my jaw's out of alignment and I've had problems with locking, crunching, and popping that have been getting worse to the point where in the past few months I've gone through periods where it's been extremely difficult to eat or open my mouth because my jaw locks and it takes a good time to move things around enough to get it closed.

I went to my regular dental practice (very good, I love them) a month ago and was seen by a very new dentist who had joined after fifteen years of TMJ work at another practice. I was extremely heartened by this first visit--rather than telling me I'd "grow out of it" (when I certainly wasn't) or that there wasn't much beyond surgery he could do, he displayed a great knowledge of the causes of TMJ, ways to treat it, and basically made me feel like I was being treated by someone who actually knew what they were talking about and could help me. He even made a quick mock bite splint and after putting it in I felt muscles in my neck, jaw, back, and even down my arm relax that I hadn't even known were tight. He said he advocates "chirodontics"--basically treating the jaw as a joint and using chiropractic methods to help treat it. This makes sense, right? He said he couldn't do anything until he talked to the head practitioner of the practice but I should schedule a follow-up. The only thing that kind of set off alarm bells were when towards the end he started talking about "energy medicine" and "clearing out the toxins" and restoring my life energy. But I brushed it away and scheduled a follow-up because of the quality of the rest of the visit.

The second visit a month later got wackier. Much wackier. The entire visit he talked about the necessity of maintaining my energy flow and how toxins were building up in the bad jaw joint. He said he couldn't use the chirodontics because he hadn't convinced the head dentist, and creating a bite splint would be over $2000. He then said I could go to his trained-by-the-head-physician-of-the-Emperor-of-Japan mentor--with whom he'd had a huge falling out so I wasn't allowed to mention the dentist's name--and get a bite splint there. The splint would cost much less, but it would be followed by $300 "energy healing" treatments, herbal treatments, and adjustments. He warned me it would be a nightmare getting an appointment, I'd be spending hours in the waiting room on the day of each appointment, it wouldn't be covered by insurance, but after six sessions of $300 each (plus the bite splint) I'd feel like a million. He then sent me on his way, chalking up my recent tooth sensitivity of the past two weeks to the TMJ too rather than even looking at the possibility of cavities or anything else.

What the heck? Now what do I do? On the one hand, my new dentist seems like a wack job, in between the energy healing business and the sheer amount of drama that seems to be following him (the troubles with his mentor, the hot water he's in with the head of the new practice after only one month). On the other hand, he definitely seems to know what he's doing--that mock bite splint felt great and when he kept out of the energy healing explanations he seemed competent at diagnosing and treating TMJ. So I don't know if I should try to get the super-expensive splint from him, get the cheap splint from the mentor and not do the adjustments, or find someone less crazy. I know I need a splint, and I want to get one from the best to make it less likely to fuck up my bite even more, but I also am afraid to deal with a crazy person.

What has worked for you? Should I drop this guy and find someone else? Just go with the splint? This energy healing stuff is hoo-doo, right?

Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with chirodontics

Is my dentist too crazy to treat me?