Chronic Pain

Hi Smile....it is nice to meet you. I have Blue Cross and man was it a battle to get them to accept. Finally...it happened, I think it had to do with the apeal going through the HR Department where I work. I will forever be indebt to them for helping with the approval. I hope yours goes fine.

I guess the joint are surgeons specific....but the choice can be yours. You have to do what is right for you........I would discuss the pros and cons of each joint replacement with you Dr. and have him explain all the details with you.....and you may prefer the Concept over the Lorenz or vice versa. Sheesh I hope that makes some sense.

While my joint replacement....only the right side.....went very well and I suffer very little pain. Each person is different depending on how many other TMJ issues you might have, such as muscle spasm or nerve pain. I did not have much of that, all of my pain was from the bone. I am sure you surgeon will explain all of this to you. Make sure to ask many questions.

I hope I was able to help with some of your question....if you have more feel free to ask away........Oh, I had my surgery in Philly.

Best of luck with your decisions and I am sure things will work out fine for you. It sure changed my life.....much more for the better.

Take care and keep us posted.........Sue

About my last post...okay, I'm obviously new, didn't know the smiley face I picked would stick out his tiongue! Sorry

Kim_

What you need to find out is the difference in life expectancy between the two proposed surgeries. How far has the degeneration gone, if there is any? Is the bone necrotic? Is the bone left strong enough to support the blood supply?

I have beet through two joint replacement surgeries, using two different systems. While I still had muscle and nerve type pain, the bone pain was gone for me after the first (the second is a whole other situation… totally unrelated to this).

I know it’s a lot to think about but you need to consider the options presented, and make sure it is the right decision for you.

Lisa,
I will print your questions for my next app't. I really don't know the extent of the degeneration but he did say yesterday that I am in the advanced stages of the disease. I have put in a share post about yesterday's app't if you want to read it. Thanks for your suggestions, Kim

Kim_

You may find this interesting. It actually not too technical (well, I could be used to reading this stuff)...

diglib.tums.ac.ir/pub/med.asp?go=pdf&magh_id=3440&pdf_v=1

OOOPS... the link didn't highlight... just cut and paste the following into your browser.

[URL=diglib.tums.ac.ir/pub/med.asp?go=pdf&magh_id=3440&pdf_v=1 ]diglib.tums.ac.ir/pub/med.asp?go=pdf&magh_id=3440&pdf_v=1 [/URL]

Thanks Lisa, I will : )

Just wanted to answer some questions that I saw on this thread. One was by Alex, wondering why a surgeon would recommend one device over another when there are further surgeries involved. Really, it all comes down to personal preference and what the surgeon has been taught to use. If they are involved with a university it usually means that the university has a preference of what joints to use due to research or previous experiences. Previous experiences also dictate what joint is recommended. You will find that some surgeons switch devices half way through their careers because they see that one is more effective for the type of patients they take on, or whatever the case is.

Tinkerbell, you asked about the difference between using one of these devices or human bone. In general, cadaver bone has not been used for jaw joint replacement. I would assume this is because it isn't as stable as other materials, like titanium.
It's also hard to integrate cadaver bone into a joint that has already been opened several times. With each surgery, as you may or may not know, your chance for success goes down.
hope you all are doing well,
Stacy

I typed this all out once and my stupid computer keeps going off line, so here I go again.
I have finally had word that I am to have my TMJ replacement.
Just waiting for paper work to be settled which should be this week. Next joint measurements to be sent off to USA for joint to be made and then the operation.
Will let you all know when it is exactly to happen.
Kind Regards to you all.....Denise (NanaD)

hey "Dream Big" I am so glad to hear that your past surgery was a success. I am curious about the immediate recovery details to the joint replacemnt.
My history has been a bilateral arthroplasty (replaced my discs with fat graft from my stomach).which helped the pain for over 2 years until I had a bilateral osteotomy, now I have 5 titanium plates that located both in my mandible and masseter.
the pain is still hanging around and the next option is between a rib graft and joint replacement.So I was just checking to see how it was right after surgery. Thanks!

Hey, nana. Did they do the replacement? I am still waiting, with nothing in "there" right now, for the replacements.. I HOPE this does not happen to you, too! Just wondering (as I do not think that any one joint is better than another), what brand of joints are you getting? Anne

Hello All!

I am new to the forums here, and would like to ask others about post tmj replacement pain.

I have undergone 5 tmj operations in the last 13 years with the most recent being a total joint replacement.

I had the Lorenz joint put in on the left side at the end of February 2007 and am still in quite a bit of pain. How long have others had pain after this operation? I'm not sure if I should bother going to see my surgeon because I'm not sure if after 5 operations I should expect any less pain!

Any input from others like me would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you, Karen

Tinkerbell, just a note...I asked my surgeon about the rib graft option, and he ruled it out very fast saying that it doesn't weather very well. I'm not sure if he meant in my particular instance, or in general though.

My doctor prefers the Lorenz joint because he has had great success with it thus far, but half-way through my joint replacement, he almost aborted in favor of the tmj concepts prosthesis, because he was having trouble getting the pieces to fit in properly.

By the way, where in Canada are you located? I am in Toronto, and have had the last 4 of my 5 operations at Mount Sinai Hospital.