Neuromuscular dentistry, TMJ disorder, and the TENS unit.. help!?

TENS is a common modality used to help relax muscles to relieve TMJ induced myospasms but it does not take one session to accomplish that and it is usually done prior to delivery of an orthotic. A true neuromuscular dentist will have instrumentation that can show you which muscles are in spasm and to what degree. You can self diagnose yourself for TMJ by inserting your pinkies into your ear cs with the soft portion forward and opening wide and closing (without banging your teeth). If you feel clicking then you have a TMJ disorder. Most dentists who treat TMJ will check for clicking or popping first and then do a comprehensive TMJ exam. If a TMJ disorder is present then the first thing to do would be to make a properly designed splint (aka orthotic) to wear. Only after this is done should TENS or any other electro physiotherapy be done (Hi volt EGS, for example). The only true way to determine whether all the symptoms you have listed are due to a TMJ problem is to construct a properly designed orthotic to wear. Those symptoms that are directly related to your TMJ should be either eliminated or significantly alleviated within the first week or two at the most. I have never heard of TENS or any modality providing instant relief. Trigger points within muscles (the cause of all the pain) are difficult to treat and require many sessions so it is extremely rare to have anything resolve muscle spasms that quickly. There is something "not right" in what your NM dentist told you. The professionals you need to consult are cranio-sacral therapists, physiotherapists trained in TMJ pain treatment, chiropractors with specialized training in TMJ pain, and dentists who know how to treat TMJ. Do not go to physicians, oral surgeons, and traditional orthodontists. You go to an ENT and eye doctor only to rule out any medical problem and not for treatment. If you do have a TMJ disorder, you will be wasting your time going to a physiotherapist initially because you need to treat the cause first and then the symptoms. A dentist who knows how to treat TMJ (preferably one who knows functional orthodontics) is the FIRST professional to go to. Then all the other specialties will serve to hasten elimination of the pain and other symptoms. Check this website out to see if there is someone else who can help: www.iaortho.org. BTW, Cl III jaws normally do not cause TMJ disorders. I would recommend a cephalometric ysis be done to see what skeletal jaw clification you are. An extremely deep skeletal overbite can give the illusion of a Cl III relationship because overclosure of the mandible causes the lower jaw to protrude. Deep overbites are a very common cause of TMJ disorders.