Introducing Me

Hey guys! So this will pretty much be an introduction post to me and my situation.

My name is Olivia Fulton and I am 17 years old

 

Where it all began.....

I have always had some sort of jaw pain ever since I was younger. Around 8 is when my jaw would start locking. It only happened about twice a year and I never thought much of it and neither did my parents. This continued until I was about 14 and got braces. Once I received my braces, my jaw pain just got so much worse. It began to lock more and more frequently. My sophomore year of high school is when it started to lock a lot. I kept telling my parents my jaw was locking. We still did not think much of it. Over the summer of 2015 is when I got really bad. My jaw would start locking for hours. This is when we began to think there was something wrong. We went to see my local dentist and they referred me to an orthodontist. Before I had a chance to visit with Dr. Peden (the orthodontist) I got pneumonia, which for some reason cause my jaw to lock for 2 solid weeks- which was the entire time I was sick. By late November 2015 I went to see Dr. Peden.

Dr.Peden

is when I a pano and did an evaluation. He felt the side of my face and could feel the clicking and popping in my jaws. He told me I had a TMJ problem. He sat us down and told us what that had meant and how it worked. So basically the disk that cushions the jaw when you talk or eat was displaced. His treatment option was braces ( new brand of braces) they exerted less force on the teeth and it would widen my palette, which would hopefully help everything settled into place. In the mean time, he gave me a splint to wear to keep my from clenching my teeth and exerting any stress on my jaw. Dr. Peden and his team were absolutely AMAZING!!!! When I got my splint they made sure it was overnighted so I could have it the next day since I was in so much pain. He personally came in - ON HIS DAY OFF WITH FAMILY AT HIS HOUSE- and made sure it fit properly. How amazing is that! He also gave me a prescription for valium to help relax my jaw muscles.

My grandmother also had TMJ problems and told me about a doctor she saw in Jacksonville- if we want to get a 2nd opinion (so glad I did).

Dr. Dennis 

In about January 2016 I went to see Dr. Dennis, who also happened to previously worked for Dr. Piper. When we went to see here she looked at my range of motion ( how far I could open and move my jaw from side-to-side. She then held her fingers against my joints to feel the popping and clicking. She then felt around my shoulders, neck and head to see if I had any pain. She also felt around my cheeks for any pain. I had very mad pain in a tendon on the right side. She said I had tendonitis in that ligament. She then used a dobbler ( same machine to listen to a baby's heartbeat). With this she could hear my blood vessels and the clicking of my joints. She then took us back to her office to go over my MRI *She ordered it before I came to here office.*  Side note:  For MRI's I would highly suggest taking some sort of anti-inflammatory before hand because for part of the MRI you have to have your mouth open and can be quite painful.
She went over my MRI with my mom and I and she said my condyles were about half the size they need to be. She went into full detail about my disks. I couldn't really follow what she was saying because I focusing on the fact that she was going to tell me I would have to have surgery, which she said when she was finished with the MRI. She then told us she is going to refer me to Dr.Piper. We got in touch with his office and they had an appointment for NEXT month! We were quite surprised since it took my grandmother 3 months to get in. So at this point I began to mentally prepare myself for a major journey.



*I have been blessed with amazing teachers who are helping me through this process. I have missed a lot of school due to being in so much pain and being on different medications. Be sure to let your teachers know what is going on, they will understand I promise. I cannot stress how important it is to stay in contact with them.