I am looking for an orthodontist who has experience with jaw problems and jaw surgery. I live in Hercules, so someone north of Berkely is preferred, but I am willing to drive as far as Oakland, San Francisco, or Walnut Creek. I have read the previous recommendations, but these are not specific to jaw problems. Here's the background: As a young child I suffered an injury to my right jaw joint. The injury didn't cause any problems until much later. I went through 4 years of braces, headgear, retainer, etc without regard to any jaw problems. Towards the last year of my orthodonia treatment, I began having pain in my left jaw joint. My orthodontist dismissed the pain. The pain continued to get worse, and I continued to ask my orthodontist about it. It wasnt' until my jaw started locking four years later that my orthodontist took my pain seriously (I was young, so I didn't realize that I should get a second opinion). He then sent me to a specialist. It turned out that due to my earlier injury the bone on the right side of my jaw had stunted growth where my left side grew normally. My orthodonia work was forcing my bite to stay centered, putting extreme pressure on the left jaw joint. I was promptly given a mouth piece that allowed my jaw to move freely to where it needed to be to and at the same time, I lost my bite entirely (my top teeth and bottom teeth do not connect, so I cannot eat without my mouth peice). The specialist indicated that I would need to have jaw surgery to cut out part of the left jaw bone, and go through several years of braces, etc. again. He warned that it is extrememly important that I get someone who knows what they are doing and is familiar with jaw problems, jaw trauma, and jaw surgery, since my jaw has been through serious stress. At the time, he said that there was no hurry to move forward, so I put this off - - being pain free has been my main concern. Now, 15 years later, I know that I need to deal with this. All of my treatment took place in Colorado, and both my orthodontist and my specialist are now retired anyway. If my mouth piece breaks, I will be in serious trouble, so I need to take action. I am terrified of starting orthodontia again with someone who is not an expert with this type of problem, and potentially ending up with the pain that I previously was experiencing. So, any recommendations for orthodontits that specialize in jaw problems, and that are extremely thorough in their work, and LISTEN to their patients would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Marie

I'm looking for an East Bay dentist specializing in TMJ. My current dentist made an acryllic mouth guard for me to wear at night, but the bite's not correct. I've heard that a new development is to build up the canines and use them as ''sliders''. Does anyone have experience with this, or a great East Bay tmj dentist to recommend? Thanks for any responses. night grinder

Close to two years ago, I sent a posting to the Recommendations Digest about TMJ specialists (now archived.) At the time, I recommended University of the Pacific, as well as a pain management specialist at the Kentfield Rehabiliation Center, Dr. Marvin Zwerin. For the record, UOP's TMJ treatment plan turned out to be worthless: very expensive (close to $3,000.00), caused permanent damage to my bite, and did nothing for my pain. I no longer recommend them, needless to say, nor do I recommend Zwerin, who referred me to UOP. MarinaH

TMJ is kind of a blanket term; there isn't a one-size-fits-all treatment. I felt U O P was terrific at actually figuring out what was specifically wrong with me. One other thing that I found helpful: The Kentfield Rehabilitation Hospital Pain Treatment Center, in (you guessed it) Kentfield. I saw Dr. Marvin Zwerin (he's in a lot of medical plans), and he's really (really, really) good. (He also has TMJ problems himself occasionally and is very sympathetic.) Best of luck. WHatever you do, don't go to a physical therapist or chiropractor...it's very easy to get hurt...and definitely stay away from UCSF's Center for Orofacial Pain. I found them extremely cold. They failed to diagnose a jaw misalignment, and instead attributed the problem entirely to stress. They wasted a lot of my money and time. Stress is quite possibly a component of TMJ, but it's not necessarily the whole story.