Bruxism Causing TMD

Do You...

*Pain or tenderness in the face, jaw joint area, neck and shoulders, and in or around the ear when you chew, speak, or open your mouth wide? Quite often..

*Limited ability to open the mouth very wide? I thought it was just used as a good excuse..

*Jaws that get "stuck" or "lock" in the open- or closed-mouth position? Oh, dangit..yes.

*Clicking, popping, or grating sounds in the jaw joint when opening or closing the mouth (which may or may not be accompanied by pain)? Everytime I eat.

*A tired feeling in the face? Ehh..?

*Difficulty chewing or a sudden uncomfortable bite – as if the upper and lower teeth are not fitting together properly? Yep.

*Swelling on the side of the face? Sometimes when I have slept hard the night before.

So.. for me I answered yes to all the questions above in a recent discussion with my dentist.  I was consistently 're-do'ing the same fillings in the same darn teeth for the past 4 years.  Last year the result was a dreaded root canal.  I've now had three.  Awesome.  I swear I brush my teeth.  So much so that my dentist told me to stop. (True story.) He then finally brought up TMD.  As read from WebMD:

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) occur as a result of problems with the jaw, jaw joint, and surrounding facial muscles that control chewing and moving the jaw. These disorders are often incorrectly called TMJ, for temporomandibular joint.

OK..so?  My dentist did say that I am not an extreme case- but it was definitly a problem that needed to be fixed, because I could worsen the effects of TMD. I was unintentionally grinding my teeth causing my fillings to loosen and wear, allowing food to creep underneath- gross.  Along with that- the grinding (and persistent-Type-A brushing) was wearing away my healthy teeth, too- making them more prone to cavities.  AND this wreched teeth grinding, medically called Bruxism, was causing TMD, as mentioned above.  Not to mention the $1,000 here..and $856 there for random dentist visits.

Welcome my new night time buddy..THE mouth guard.  After another crown placement..I was fitted for a mold and then I waited..and waited for it to come in.  Finally. 
I tried my best to make this picture less-scary.  You can see I was mildly successful. 

After night number two I will say that although somewhat uncomfortable in the beginning, I am day number two without a morning headache.  And second day in a row I can chew gum :)  (usually one day is all I get- so onions in my lunch salad happens once a week- you are welcome.) 

I was curious what else I could do outside of the mouth guard solution.. During my lunch break I read up a little more on TMD.. I was leaning forward reading- resting my head in my hands..

*Don't rest your chin on your hand or hold the telephone between your shoulder and ear. Practice good posture to reduce neck and facial pain.


Crap.  Ok.

Let the Festivities Begin!

I feel like the title of this post is somewhat repetative.  Over the past year, this will be wedding number three we have been blessed to be apart of (See Wedding #1 and Wedding #2)  This wedding will be no different than the others- simply beautiful.  Last May, Jarrett asked my oh-so-precious Ashley to be his wife- and she said 'yes' :)  With the Big Day being exactly 2 months away (2/16/2011) all the 'important' business is just about taken care of and all the fun stuff is well underway!  This past Sunday marked the first of her showers- The Bridal Shower- hosted by her Bridesmaids.  Brio Tuscan Grille in Southlake served as a beautiful location for our event.  It was the perfect space, elegantly fit for a queen, or a Bride.

Our Cake Table (before the food made it's appearance..)  Jordan made the most precious 'Bride-to-Be cut out with her Cricket

The cake!  My sweet friend Macy and The Cozy Cakery made this gorgeous (and delicious) cake- perfect with her wedding color theme, complete with a 'D' for Dunaway

 The Bride making the rounds to her guests

 Look at all those presents!!  Most of the guests played along with the theme and adorned Ashley's packages in yellow and slate grey.

 The centerpieces- I'm sad because the pictures do not do justice to how cute they actually were..

 Time for grub!  The shower was at 2pm, so appetizers and mimosas made for great afternoon fare.  Ashley started the line with her plate first :)

Presents!!  So fun-  and its written all over her face.

As a thank-you for hosting Ashley gave the cutest hostess gift- look at these precious aprons!!  Right up my alley, of course :)  Maids from left to right: Lorin, Jenna, Me, MOH Katie, MOH Heather (sorry H..only pic I got!), and Jordan (recently engaged to Jarrett's brother!!)

 A Bride and her Bridesmaids

 Ashley with her Mom, Deb and future Mother-in-Law, Marianne

 Love this girl

 Ashley and her Made of Honor (s)

 What a beautiful day it was at Brio!!  They did an amazing job serving our party of guests and I am so pleased with the way the entire afternoon went.  I'm sad my bridesmaid duties prevented me from taking more pictures of her opening gifts and such- but I was 'man-ing' the trash bag.  Hopefully I can steal some from the other girls more responsible with the picture taking :)

One shower down..another next weekend..and I just recieved the couple's shower invite in the mail- A Martini Masquerade in a couple weeks!  So cute, so fun, so EXCITING! 

Countdown to 4-16-2011..

Snowed..errr ICE-D In

This morning I woke up to another crazy shift in weather (it is 17 degrees out there according to Fox 4 News), complete with school and business closings as well as the intermitent shutting down of the 635 overpass- that would be the key component to my morning commute. Jordan was awake at 5am with me this morning, getting ready for his 24 hour shift at the fire station.  He insisted that I stay home, twisting my arm and hiding my keys.  Ok..not that extreme.  "Do you think you can stay home today since I can't drive you?" ... "Yes." That was the end of it.  I had a rather rough day yesterday, and the sheet of ice covering my driveway leaving me trapped in my garage couldn't have had better timing.  God has His way, and I'm so thankful for that.

So, what do I do at 6am? I couldn't possibly go back to sleep, I was halfway ready for work before I decided to stay home.  After last week's 4 days of ice/snow and the overkill of news coverage, I would say that I'm over the news. Over it.  After washing my half-done face clean, I adorned some of Jordan's old hunting thermals and made myself comfortable in our bed next to my Jellybean (My 7 year old stuffed purple Build-A-Bear Jordan gave me while we were still dating- can't sleep without it..pretty sure she made the trip on our honeymoon, too!)  Flipping through channels I remembered Jess telling me that she watched Saved by the Bell before work one day- umm, hello..FAVorite show ever.  As tacky as the 80's show can be, it will never get old.

So..SBTB kept me awake and entertained for an hour, enjoying every minute of it while I drank my coffee. (Weekdays on TBS @ 7am) I plan on continuing my day with Fresh Prince, Full House, King of Queens, Friends, and a plethora of various Food Network favorites.

Looking forward to my 'snow day'.  Hope you are staying warm, too!

Finishing Strong

Last week was..well..cold and plain typical for Texas weather.  For three days temps barely reached 20 degrees and resulted in freezing rain and horrible road conditions due to ice.  And then there was the slow rides to work, relying on the man in my life to drive me to and from the quiet (and empty) hospital ..but it did allow us to share our morning cup of Joe together. (Ahem, I would secretly take snow if it promises that sweet Jordan will drive me) 

Friday, I woke to 6 inches of snow outside.  So, I patiently waited for Jordan to arrive home from the fire station so we could share a cup of coffee on the way to take me to work :) OnThursday night, I thought it beneficial to park on the street because our driveway is so steep and was an ice rink-impossible to pull out onto without losing control and landing in the living room of the people we share the alley with.  This provided little relief..my tires were a good 2 inches underneath frozen ice on the street.

 Our backyard :)  Kind of resembles the 12.5 inches we got last February..

 These would be the neighbors I mentioned before.  They probably wouldn't appreciate a vehicle interrupting the morning news. (I'm standing in the middle of my garage..eye level to the top of the tree, if that can paint a picture of how steep our driveway is..)

After a somewhat of a lazy Saturday of un-thawing and cooking/prep for the week-Sunday we invited John, Jessica, and Prego over to watch the big Super Bowl game. I think Prego was quite comfy in my hubby's lap for the majority of the game.

We cooked up a delicous meal (aside from my scalloped potato disaster of a side dish) and we topped off the evening with dessert courtesy of the Wingfield's: Rocky Road covered candied apples.  

Not quite the 'action' shot I was going for, John..but really don't expect anything less from you, Goofy.  We love you, anyway.

Finishing my weekend with great laughter and even better friends never fails in leaving me fully prepared and ready for a great week ahead.

 Go..Packers?  Yea..I think we were going for Green Bay. 

A Prize, or Two

Not quite sure how I end up getting to this point.. a month with no posting to my sweet little blog.  How neglected it must feel?  I read plenty..but find a hard time keeping up with my own.  So.. Whats new with this Massey crew..

Last week I was surprised to have recieved a complimentary issue of Simple and Delicious Magazine.  I apparently won a place as runner up in their Citrus Recipe Contest for my Salsa Roja.  If you do not place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd you don't get a phone call..but I did win a year long subscription to this Taste of Home sub-magazine :)  AND I still ran through the door from the mailbox yippee-ing, and hoot'n'holler-ing.  Causing increased rolling of my husband's eyes.  I happen to consume my semi-homemade salsa by the gallon on a weekly basis (ok- with help from Jordan..and I must confess, I haven't made it in awhile..) It is nice to be acknowledged by someone other than my precious husband about how wonderful my cooking is. (Insert slight sarcasm here)

I also placed in a slow-cooker recipe contest in the Taste of Home August/September 2010 issue for my BBQ Chicken Baked Potatoes :) This recipe went in their 2011 Taste of Home Annual Recipes cookbook- which I got as a freebie as well. 

Chocolate Broccoli seems to be doing quite well for herself-I think there is prize monies on it's way for a recipe contest I just received notice for..  ;)



Pretty neat-o, right?  I think so, anyway..