Not too long ago, I decided to have my wisdom teeth pulled at the suggestion of my dentist. They were beginning to get cavities, and I had one partially impacted tooth on the bottom. My dentist showed me how there was not enough room in my mouth for these teeth. I put on my big girl panties and scheduled the procedure.

My extractions were not too exciting, although I remained awake for the entire procedure. In fact, my dentist and I were cracking jokes the entire time. A few weeks later, however, I started feeling a pain in my jaw - it was something I've felt before, but this time it was much worse. I went back to the dentist to ask about this strange, throbbing pain. Since I felt it mainly around my extraction site, I thought it was a dry socket. Oh, how I was mistaken.

After finding nothing physically wrong in my mouth, my dentist started asking me some questions:

Do you clench your teeth?

Yes, all the time.

Does your jaw pop?

Of course. Don't all jaws pop?

Have you injured your jaw?

No, but I do play a woodwind instrument, which makes me move my jaw a lot.

All of my answers led to one diagnosis - TMJ Disorder.

He felt that my wisdom tooth extractions most likely exacerbated a problem that already existed. I knew he was right. There were a few occasions in the past where I felt this same pain before. I have also experience times when I could not fully open my jaw.

This problem happens to many people. In fact, my dentist told me that at least 60% of people deal with this disorder to some extent. They only treat the issue if there is pain involved. Since I was suffering from a lot of discomfort, he decided to order me a specialized mouth guard. He also prescribed some muscle relaxers to take when the pain was bad.

For the next couple of weeks, I took a muscle relaxer in the evening. It made me completely forget that I even had a jaw. When my mouth guard came in, I wore it every night when I went to sleep to keep me from clenching my teeth. I also started some facial exercises that a chiropractor suggested, and I even had some mouth massages to relax the muscles.

After about three months, my pain completely went away. It still flares up every now and then, but it is never as bad as before. Since I know many of you are suffering from pain, be calm. Most dentists agree that the pain will eventually disappear. Only a few people need further treatments, such as surgery. More often than not, a TMJ disorder is muscular. Those who need more radical treatments usually have an actual problem with the jaw joint itself. Always exhaust all conservative issues before you decide to move on to permanent jaw changes.