The horrors of TMJ: Chronic pain, metal jaws, and futile treatments

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TMJ disorders affect as many as 1 in 10 Americans and yet remain poorly understood and ineffectively treated. Many common treatments used by dentists lack scientific evidence.

A TMJ patient in Maine had six surgeries to replace part or all of the joints of her jaw.Another woman in California, desperate for relief, used a screwdriver to lengthen her jawbone daily, turning screws that protruded from her neck.A third in New York had bone from her rib and fat from her belly grafted into her jaw joint, and twice a prosthetic eyeball was surgically inserted into the joint as a placeholder in the months it took to make metal hinges to implant into her jaw.

Sean Mackey, a Stanford professor who co-led the team, said it found that patients were often steered toward costly treatments and 'pathways of futility' instead of being taught to manage their pain through strategies and therapies with 'good evidence.''We learned it's a quagmire,' Mackey said. 'There is a perverse incentive in our society that pays more for things we do to people than talking and listening to people.

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