I had been months with unrelenting TN pain. I believe my pain was exacerbated by 3 root canals that further damaged and irritated an already unhappy trigeminal nerve, and every time I closed my mouth, the top and bottom teeth would touch each other, and start my pain all over again. I went to a dentist in Mexico, Dr. Alejandra Novoa Carus in Cozumel, who said that she felt I was grinding my teeth at night, and that I had TMJ. She didn’t think that TMJ was causing all of my pain, but rather that it was triggering my TN by irritating an already excited nerve in my jaw.
She made a mold of my mouth/teeth, and created a simple plastic mouth guard/splint. I put it in, and waited. Instead of the normal attack I was expecting that day, nothing ever came… I was pain free. The next day, I did have another attack, and went to see her. She prescribed a medication called Tramadol/Ketorolac, which is sold under the brand names “Sinergix” or “Mavidol” as a sublingual tablet. I put the pill under my tongue, and waited 15 min. At that point, it was a little better, so I took one more. By the end of the next 15 minutes I was pain free again.
Since my trip to Mexico, I know that:
- the mouth guard is really important for me. Sleeping without it will cause an attack every time
- when I do have break through pain, Tramadol/Ketorolac sublingual will kick its butt
I now believe that the mouth guard removes some of the triggers of my TN by protecting the teeth that had the dental work, and distributing the load on my teeth evenly. I started out wearing it 24/7, but some of the rigid qualities of the mouth guard were irritating me when I would talk. It also irritated my teeth, but not enough to cause an episode. After 3 weeks, I had chewed up all 4 of the mouth guards Dr. Alejandra gave me. I had also taken all of the Sinergix. But I felt so much better, I was actually able to go back to work.
I decided to see what it would cost to have a dentist here in the US make the mouth guard for me… $800!!! The dentist in Mexico charges me $40 for the same thing!
I went on Amazon and ordered 3 different types of mouth guards. One was too thick, one was completely the wrong style to be worn on my lower jaw, but one was just right. It’s a little spongier than the rigid dental plastic that the dentist gave me, but it is a lot less irritating to the rest of my mouth and tongue. The one that works best for me is by Nateurlabs and it’s a BPA free “anti-snoring mouth guard”. It is just the right thickness, and just thin enough to be comfortable in my mouth all night.
If anyone had told me a little piece of plastic on my lower teeth would calm down my TN, I would have called them crazy. I literally counted the hours I was pain free at first. Frankly, I don’t care how or why it works, just that I now have a day here and there where I have blessed relief from pain!