Neuromuscular Dentistry - Getting a second opinion?

So, once again I have been waiting close to a month for some more information on the next steps to fixing my jaw.

One thing I've noticed, there aren't many blogs online about Neuromuscular Dentistry. A lot of people will say that it doesn't work or that it's not even worth trying. The information that is available is usually written by dentists themselves. So I'm hoping that by writing from a patient's perspective, this might help some other people in the same boat.

The whole concept of Neuromuscular Dentistry just makes sense to me. My jaw hurts because my teeth are in an awkward position, the orthotic repositions the jaw and muscles so that they are relaxed. Ouila! My jaw pain is gone.

Now that I've confirmed that (from my personal experience), I am looking to making this permanent. This Saturday is my birthday and I'm turning 29! Whoo! So, this jaw of mine still has some years left. Personally, I'm just not ready to accept that I will have to wear an orthotic all day, every day, for the rest of my life. Having braces for a a few months and a palate expander seems like a small trade off for the lifetime that I will be able to not worry about where my orthotic is or when the pain is going to return if I have it out of my mouth.

To explain further, whenever I eat food, I have to remove my orthotic. (This happens more than you would think and if it's in my mouth and I'm in a restaurant it is super awkward spitting this thing out in front of people, as a grown adult. I've started to plan ahead and take it out, but sometimes after the meal when we're just talking, by that point I'm in pain again. So I have to put it back in my mouth at subtly as possible...)

Anywho, these are pretty mundane problems I know, but it can be the cause of at least some anxiety. My only hesitancy to just diving into Phase II of the treatment is the fact that my current dentist plans to charge me over $70,000 for it...that just seems like too much for the treatment...

So at this stage in the game, I finally decided to give in and get a second opinion. I say "give in" because I didn't like the idea of dropping my current doctor who knows my treatment plan and who has been essentially doing a good job, to start writing checks to a new doctor. (It feels like I'm starting all over again.) BUT, when your potential cost is that high, I think it's a good time to get a second opinion.

Luckily I found another dentist with good experience who also does Neuromuscular Dentistry, has 25 years of experience, and can also provide orthodontics (this is hard to find because most of the Neuromuscular Dentists are mainly doing it for cosmetic dentistry (Which is fine if that is the issue, but I have more functional problems that I'm trying to resolve so I need more than just Invisalign. Believe me, I would prefer Invisalign at my age, but it's just not an option for what they're trying to do.)

Moving on, I called them up and got an appointment for next Tuesday, so I will definitely write an update next week. The woman on the phone said her sister graduated this year from the University I work at! So I took that as a good sign. Then just out of curiosity I asked how much a replacement orthotic would cost through them. (My current one is breaking down and I desperately need a new one!) She said it would cost around $400. I was shocked because my dentist plans to charge me somewhere around $3,000 or more! That is a HUGE difference.

I'm not saying my dentist doesn't have her reasons...I really can't say for sure why one would be so much more than the other, especially because it's just plastic and I already have the necessary molds to make a new one...but this gave me some hope that maybe they would treat me for a more reasonable cost.

So, wish me luck! I am hoping that this might be the solution I've been waiting for so I can move forward on my treatment.