So I'm not sure how long I've had it but about a year ago I realized that there's some limit with opening my jaw.
And then when I tried a certain method of speaking called overarticulation ( where you move your mouth more to enunciate very clearly) It causes some very noticeable discomfort, like a sinus headache.
And more recently I noticed when I just talk there's some sinus related pain too, though somehow I never noticed it before, I must have ignored it.
I went to my PCP recently and they said it was a TMJ disorder and gave me some stretches, relaxation techniques, isometric exercises and a muscle relaxer. My buddy who had some TMJD before told me I should try to get a custom nightguard from a dentist. I then went to a dentist. I haven't been in for a cleaning for quite a while. They said part of the could have been that I haven't done my cleaning in a while and that caused some dental issues. But after more tests then they said my bite was off and did some scan(digital occlusal analysis I think) showing that there was some damage on the back of the top teeth. Then they said a night guard is not enough and that I should try Invisalign.
It was a fast push, sign up for Invisalign immediately, which is a bit suspicious. I looked things up, There's a mixed stuff on it. Like some people said it helped, some didn't, depending on the cause. My dad asked his dentist and he said it's completely unrelated; Invisalign is for crooked teeth, tmj disorders require a night guard. So I'm confused on what to do, and not completely sure if I should trust my dentist; they pushed it pretty fast, its expensive, and seems like it could work for certain causes of TMJD but also go wrong in some cases.
(Also I wonder, they were telling me to bite but I might be biting differently when you tell me to bite vs doing it naturally when I'm eating, that might've thrown things off in the whole diagnosis??)