Before I met Dr. Morris I was in constant pain.  I was under a lot of stress and I had headaches every day.  My jaw felt tight like a rubber band all the time.  I had pain in my face, jaw, neck and shoulders daily.  Needless to say, I was tense and on edge and not a lot of fun to be around.  I was told that I needed to relax and reduce my stress level, but the problem was that I couldn’t relax.  I didn’t realize that I was subconsciously clenching my teeth and keeping my jaw tense.  Other dentist’s had mentioned TMJ, but I wasn’t grinding my teeth at night.  They suggested a bite splint, but that didn’t really help much.  I also got prescriptions for Celebrex and other drugs, but they only relieved the symptoms.  They didn’t fix the problem.

The level of pain that I was in took a number of years to get that bad.  At first it bothered me most at night and I got in the habit of taking ibuprofen every night in order to sleep.  The pain woke me up at least once a night and I had to take ibuprofen again to get back to sleep.  Eventually, the pain spread from my jaw to my face and teeth.  At that point it became a way of life for me and rarely did I go a day without taking an over the counter pain medication.  I learned to tolerate the discomfort and just dealt with it the best I could.

Finally, I realized that these were not just tension and stress headaches and something had to be done.  I didn’t even realize it had anything to do with TMJ.  I was referred to Dr. Morris and he immediately gave me a sense of relief and hope.  He spent a lot of time with me and assured me that he could help me fix this problem.  He understood exactly what I was talking about and knew the reasons why I was in pain.  Apparently, my jaw through muscle memory.  Believe me, I did not want to do this, but the relief I got was unbelievable! In fact I did not want to stop wearing the mouthpiece when the treatment was over.  I do wear an oral appliance at night and I can’t sleep without it.  My jaw feels completely normal now and I am amazed at the difference in how I feel.  For the first time in three years, I can sleep 8 hours straight! I don’t have headaches anymore, my posture has improved and my neck and shoulder pain is gone.  It has been so long since I have been in pain that I can hardly remember how bad it was before.

Dr. Morris has changed the quality of my life! I cannot express how grateful I am to him and his staff for their friendly, caring and professional service.    This has been a wonderful experience and I would do it all over again.  Thank you!

Lori Bagwell