Original poster here who posted about my experience Dr. Piontkowski at the Washington TMJ and Sleep Therapy Center. I stopped seeing him after 5 months of appliance "therapy" which, he said, was supposed to create scar tissue that would hold my joint properly in place (???!!!!!!). When I saw another dentist in VA who has a good reputation to TMJ and I told him that, he was flabbergasted.

Meanwhile, I have $4000 worth of claims that I can't get insurance reimbursement because the practice either omitted codes or used incorrect codes. I call the office once a week to try to get new codes, but they won't call back. These claims are two years old now.

Recently, I connected with another patient ("victim" is more like it) of this dentist whose ordeal makes mine sound like nothing. He caused so much damage to her that she could not even eat without the appliance and she needed braces for two years to correct the damage he did. She spent over 20K between what she paid him and what she paid an orthodontist to correct the damage he did, and she still has TMJ, as do I.

Please, please, please do not see this quack! He has offices in Bethesda and National Harbor. He is a scammer who should have his license revoked. And if you have had an experience with him, please post a response.

Try physical therapy. There is a practice in Silver Spring that does TMJ treatment. It's called Optimal Physical Therapy And Rehabilitation.

Poster here who saw Dr. Piontkowski in Bethesda. After 5 months of wearing his $1800 orthotic with the $160 adjustments every month (totaling about $7K at this point), I woke up this morning unable to open my jaw all the way, which had never happened before. Stay away from Dr. P. and the Washington TMJ and Sleep Center. By the way, the office is full of "Top Docs" plaques from the Consumer Research Council of America, a scam organization (no physical presence, just a P.O. box) that sells these plaques to anyone, no matter what their record.

Anonymous wrote:Are you taking a SSRI? Zoloft gave me horrible jaw issues. I didn’t believe the doctor when he told me that was the cause. But as soon as I went off, jaw pain went away.

+1 Celexa causes me to clench my teeth at night, not horribly, but I definitely notice that I wake up with my teeth clenched-- I'm going to a mouth guard, it's a small price to pay.

TMJ-- your dentist can fit you for a mouth guard, but in the meantime, Target sells a nice mouth guard that works fine.

Agree that you might try a magnesium drink-- magnesium can help relax muscles in case you're unconsciously tensing your jaw. If it really hurts, take ibuprofen to bring down the inflammation.

Jaw pain from night time clenching, teeth grinding is extremely common.

Lastly, make sure your bite is in good shape-- if your bite is of and you're grinding your teeth it's going to exert an enormous amount of pressure in one area of your mouth.

Invisalign was the game changer for me.

Are you taking a SSRI? Zoloft gave me horrible jaw issues. I didn’t believe the doctor when he told me that was the cause. But as soon as I went off, jaw pain went away.